TJ students stand in the Broadmoor after the award ceremony, celebrating the hard work and victories photo by Matt Nicolo
35 students from TJ joined thousands from Colorado at the Broadmoor Hotel for a competition to remember.
The four days (February 22-25) spent in Colorado Springs for DECA State competitors were met with hard work and thrilling results. Students from across the state, 35 from TJ, stayed in different hotels around the Colorado Springs area. All of these students congregated at the Broadmoor for competitive events, workshops, training opportunities, and ceremonies. The student organization, DECA, focuses on business and marketing, giving students the opportunity to ‘forecast your future’ (DECA’s slogan for 2020). Students from TJ competed in subjects ranging from Apparel and Accessories to Quick Serve Restaurant Management and more.
Every student had their schedules packed Saturday through Tuesday. The first night in Colorado Springs, TJ was busy settling into the Cheyenne Mountain Resort and enjoying a movie night with the team. Students with written events competed all day Sunday, while others attended workshops where they learned invaluable skills and life lessons. The setup of a competition varies based on the unique event, but all competitions are presented in front of judges. Students are expected to be at the Broadmoor for their scheduled holding time before being presented with their task. After the allotted prep time has passed, they are filed into a room full of judges where they present and are scored. Scores are cumulative between all of an individual’s competitions and a written exam that was administered prior to the conference.
The goal of the competition is to qualify for International Career Development Conference (ICDC), also known as the national conference for DECA. TJ had two qualifiers, Alice Larm and Carson Campbell, although more were planning to attend for leadership training. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 concerns, this conference has been cancelled, but the students’ achievements do not go unrecognized. The process of qualifying for ICDC is to first qualify for state. After competing, scores will be totaled for a group of finalists to compete again on the Tuesday of the state conference. Our very own Larm, Campbell, Houston Hood, and Micah Brandt were all finalists in their events. The closing/awards ceremony took place Tuesday evening, where finalists stood on stage awaiting the champions to be announced. While standing on stage in front of thousands of competitors, Campbell shared, “It was nerve-racking. The guy reading the names got to the last two finalists, and I thought that was it; I didn’t make it. Once he read my name as 2nd place, I didn’t even know how to feel in the moment.”
Larm, currently a Junior at TJ, ran to be a State Officer for DECA 2020-2021. Larm had been relentlessly preparing to be an officer for months, all while taking advanced classes, leading DECA at TJ, holding a major role in Interact club, and more. According to Larm, running to be an officer is no simple process. She explained, “The process of becoming a state officer started with taking a test where I had to know all of the ins and outs of Colorado DECA. I then created a visual flyer as a representation of who I am. When I arrived at state, I had given a two minute speech, which I prepared ahead of time, to a group of delegates. The following day those same delegates conducted a series of interviews with me.” After all this hard work, Larm was elected the Colorado District Three Representative for the upcoming year. Larm holds high expectations for the upcoming year, her goals including “[showing] students everything DECA has to offer, and how they can take the skills they learn into the real world.” The TJ community is very proud of Larm and all of the other competitors for their hard work, and can’t wait to see the accomplishments of 2021.
