DECA stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America. It’s a nationwide organization that introduces the vast world of business to high school kids. The club provides skills that might help people beyond their highschool years.

Lead by Bill Cayo, an economics teacher at Grosse Pointe South, the DECA club participants meet every Wednesday to discuss upcoming contests, and prepare for them. Most of this preparation includes mock interviews, where students pitch ideas from a question given to them.

According to Cayo, DECA is a club for kids who want to pursue a career in business.

“DECA is an outstanding opportunity for students to gain a lot of skills and a lot of networking and really advance in their business careers before they ever start,” Cayo said.

According to Cayo, being involved in DECA becomes an attraction to colleges.

“The recognitions that students earn can help get them into business schools,” Cayo said. “My son would be a good example because (DECA is) why he thinks he got into the business school.”

Halden Stoehr ’20 agrees with Cayo when it comes to college acceptance. He thinks that his chances of getting into his school of choice will increase after participating in DECA.

“I do feel more confident about getting into my dream school since joining DECA because it looks great on a college resume,” Stoehr said.

According to Stoehr, DECA’s competitions give contestants the opportunity to get involved in high-pressured business interactions.

“To me DECA is all about experience,” Stoehr said. “The role play interviews that we do in the competitions give us priceless practice for interviews for real jobs.”

On the other hand, Tristan Guevara ’20 thinks that there are some characteristics you need in order to join DECA. In other words, it’s not for everyone.

“DECA is definitely for outgoing students. They cannot be afraid to put themselves out there, especially when speaking to a crowd or interviewer,” Geuvara said. “Also, you need to be a quick thinker. This goes for the fake interviews where you have to come up with ideas in a short time period. If these are problems for someone, they should not join.”

According to Geuvara, you have to be more devoted to DECA than just showing up for 30 minutes after school.

“Surprisingly, DECA can be a really big time commitment. There are kids going to regional and state competitions which take up most of the weekend,” Geuvara said.

According to Lloyd Dennis ’21, one does not truly get the full experience without attending these competitions.

“My favorite thing was going to the state competition. Honestly, it was probably one of the most fun things I’ve done this year,” Dennis said. “Sure, the interview experience was amazing, but the times that I had with my friends on the trip are unforgettable.”

According to Dennis, DECA gives kids the opportunity to be apart of something bigger than themselves. This came into play at the state competition in Detroit this year.

“At the state-level competition, winning an award meant so much more. Instead of only representing myself to the massive audience, the award represented Grosse Pointe South as a whole,” Dennis said. “It kind of resembles being apart of an Olympic team, but not, but it was still kind of cool.”