February 19-22, 25 DECA students traveled to Dallas for the State Competition. Eight students won from their respective categories and will represent McNeil at the DECA Internationals in May in Atlanta.

“It’s a lot of hard work, but it pays off the moment you get up on stage to receive the award,” senior Aanandita Kumar said.

The following students will advance to Internationals: Jessica Jeon (11), Jisu Jeon (11), Skyler Scheffer (12), Ashlie Meckley (12), Shelby Stewart (10), Minha Ghani (10), Kathleen Hu (10), and Kumar.

“I wrote my business plan in Mrs. [Vera] Cruz’s entrepreneurship class,” Stewart said. “Once I took it to districts and state, I worked really hard on polishing everything. Once my plan was ready for the competition I worked on creating a Power Point and tri-fold display. After that I practiced a lot by presenting to Mrs. Cruz and my parents.”

Internationals will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, May 3-6. These students will compete against the other 49 states and Canada.

“To prepare, my partner, Jessica [Jeon] and I are going over what the judge said to improve on and we’re practicing our presentations a lot,” Jisu Jeon said.