The Cherry Hill High School East DECA team has been successful in competition, with over 100 East students making it to the state-level DECA competition at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City. Starting from Monday, February 27, over the course of three days, the competitors participated in judged business role-play scenarios, with some students also participating in prepared presentations on various business topics. Those who landed in the top 6th to 8th places in their events qualified for DECA’s International Career Development Conference (ICDC), the next level of the competition.

“I’m excited to take 29 [qualifying students],” said Mrs. Shine, one of the DECA advisors at East.

She displayed her enthusiasm for the school’s success in continuing to ICDC and congratulated everyone who participated in the state competition. According to Mrs. Shine, East is currently the largest DECA chapter in the state, as it frequently takes some of the highest numbers of students to both the state and international levels of competition.

Many students thoroughly enjoyed their time at the competition. With the variety of activities available to students and the many opportunities participants had to network and meet with students from all across the state, DECA became a memorable event for attendees. 

“The competition is only half of it, it’s also a lot about having fun with friends and getting to meet new people,” said DECA state competitor Kyle Lehrfeld (‘24). 

ICDC will be held in Orlando, Florida from April 22nd to April 25th at the Hilton Orlando. The competition will host over 20,000 high school students who will have the chance to compete for prestige and awards.