Pattonville sent seven students to the annual DECA District 7 competition. All seven students placed in their respective competitions and will be headed to the state competition on March 12-14.

Here is how each student placed:

• Emma Hohenstein – 1st Place Leadership Delegate; 2nd Place Hotel Lodging & Management
• Nicholas Rauscher – 1st  Place Automotive Services
• Ross Reynolds – 1st Place Business Services Marketing
• Sophie Vik – 1st Place Apparel & Accessories Marketing
• Taityanna Beard – 2nd Human Resource Management Marketing
• Madison Duello – 3rd Place Business Services Marketing
• Arielle Williams – 3rd Place Apparel & Accessories Marketing

The team was successful because of the support of one another.

“At the competition, we helped support one another by reassuring each other and keeping a positive attitude,” senior Nicholas Rauscher said. “It was difficult to stay calm and focused during the 10-minute prep time, so the encouragement helped.”

Each competition includes three parts: a 100-question written test, and two role-play situations that are completed in front of a judge.

“I studied for my events by looking at practice role-plays and practiced being confident with the topic,” Rauscher said.

Now that the district competition is over, the students have to begin preparing for the state competition at the Lodge of Four Seasons in the Ozarks, which is in less than a month.

“Even though we should all be happy we did well at districts, we need to begin to work toward doing even better when we get to state,” senior Madison Duello said. “The other schools we are competing against will be much better than what we faced before, so it will be much tougher to move to the next stage.”

DECA is important to many students, and that is no different for Pattonville’s seven qualifiers.

“DECA means being able to try new things and being able to take risks you may not usually take,” Duello said. “It will help us to grow as future business professionals.”