The Clay High Marketing class participated in DECA districts competition at Bowling Green State University on Thursday, January 25. Five different schools in the district attended the competition. The students have been preparing for their specific events since October. Students could either take part in a team management, professional selling or a marketing campaign event. To continue on to the state competition in March at the Columbus Convention Center, the students had to obtain either first or second place.

The students who chose to partake in team events were given a random case study that was industry specific. They were given 30 minutes to create an appropriate response and 10 minutes to present this response to a panel of judges. Their responses included creating an authentic plan of implementation which addressed specific performance indicators. Garrett Miller and Alexandra Roberts competed in Marketing Communications, receiving second place; Angelo Amenta and Alexandra Selee competed in Business Law and Ethics, receiving first place; Emily Popovitch and Haley Khulman competed in Hospitality Services, receiving second place; Mallory Mottmiller and Melissa Algarin competed in Buying and Merchandising, receiving second place

Those that participated in creating a marketing campaign took part in a different style of competition. They were required to write an 11 page promotional campaign prior to the competition and present their ideas to a panel of judges (advertising executives) within a twenty minute timeframe. Their presentations consisted of several visual aids, such as, a power point presentation and tri-fold boards. A.J Burns and Hayden Hyndman competed in Sports Promotion with an event plan for the Toledo Walleye, and received first place; Kalyn Kegerize and Haleigh Linghor competed in Fashion Merchandising creating a fashion event for Burberry received fourth place; Katie Riley and Abbey Zunk competed in Advertising Campaign receiving third place for an advertising campaign for Crave Jewelry, an online jewelry business.

An additional category was professional sales where contestants were given a scenario prior to competition then had to create a professional sales pitch to sell the judges on their proposal. During competition the students had to creatively design a package then meet with the judges (clients) in hopes of landing the sale; Kady Schneider  placed second in Hospitality Sales with a wedding package representing Business to Consumer (B to C)sales. Anthony Rizo competed in Professional Sales selling a foreign language training program to a pharmaceutical corporation which represented Business to Business (B to B) sales and received first place. Finally, Halie Steingraber competed in Sports and Entertainment Series, receiving fifth place and Kyle Steveson competed in Sports and Entertainment Series, receiving second place

In addition, the class received First Place District Chapter of the Year Award. No matter what the event, the students were striving for success, and clearly, they got it. There are 15 students who are moving on to the state competition are working harder than ever with the hopes to advance to the International competition that will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah. The saying “the children are the future” holds true within this year’s ambitious Marketing Education students.