On March 16 – 18, 32 state qualifiers from FHC took part in the DECA state competition. Among them, seniors Abbey Schneider and Sean Earl qualified for the International Current Development Conference (ICDC). According to Mr. Steve Cross, who will be joining Schneider and Earl in Atlanta, more students were expected to make it to the international competition, especially considering the large number of state qualifiers.

“We had 32 qualifiers this year, so we had a lot of people make it to state, but we just had a rough time getting them through. Last year we had 15, but there’s a lot that goes into making it to that final stage the way they judge it,” Mr. Cross said. “We were hoping to get more through, but we’re happy with the people we got through, so maybe next year.”

Schneider, who placed fifth in the Quick Serve Restaurant Management category at state, believes it was her creativity rather than her knowledge about business that set her apart from her competitors and enabled her to do so well.

“It really has nothing to do with business. The way to make it is to be creative. People think it’s helpful to bring in marketing terms, but that’s not really what they want to hear. They just want to hear creative ideas,” Schneider said.

Despite their success at the state level, Schneider and Earl will still have to prepare for the upcoming competition. According to Mr. Cross, FHC’s DECA chapter offers many resources to help them get them ready for the ICDC.

“We have all kinds of resources for them to study to get ready for competition. We have a website called Competition University which they can have access to 24/7, and we have a whole library of tests, roleplays that they can take home and study,” Mr. Cross said. “We have a lot of resources here to keep them busy for a long time. But that’s really up to them, how hard they want to work at it.“