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Cape High business students compete in international conference

Abby Bucklin first Cape student to earn medal
May 29, 2019

Cape High business students competed in an international career development conference April 27-30, where senior Abby Bucklin became the first Cape student to earn a medal.

After bringing home awards at the state competition in February, 22 Cape High students traveled to the DECA conference in Orlando to compete against 22,000 other students from all 50 states and nine countries.

Competitions included tests, role playing and business case studies on marketing, hospitality, finance, business law and ethics. Students said they enjoyed meeting new people and networking with sponsors from Google and Microsoft.

Abby Bucklin earned a silver medal in hospitality and tourism team decision-making after placing in the top 10 out of nearly 350 students for her test score. For her case study, Abby worked with senior Carolyn Wood to assume roles of a marketing director and hotel general manager planning to renovate hotel rooms.

Abby is pursuing a dual-enrollment program this fall; her first three years she will study business at Emory University and will then spend two years at Georgia Tech to study biomedical engineering.

“My career goal is to invent prosthetics, braces and patches to administer new medicine and open a business,” said the four-year accounting pathway student who served as co-president with Carolyn this year. “DECA lets us apply classroom learning into real-life situations.”

Students said the pathway helps them develop leadership, problem-solving and communication skills. Rahul Patel said team-building exercises with students they just met helped them work on ways to build relationships. Quinn Peery said students take pride in being a student-run organization; Cape DECA advisor and marketing teacher Gabriel Martinez agreed.

“I guide and mentor them but let them have ownership and do their own thing, like organize club meetings and fundraisers,” Martinez said.

Last year, Cape’s DECA chapter was the smallest in the state. This year, it’s the biggest.

“We went from eight students to 56,” said Carolyn Wood. Students worked hard to market the group to other classmates, and stressed the club is not all work-focused; students have fun, too. In fact, they enjoyed a DECA night at Universal Studios during the trip, when all DECA clubs had the entire amusement park to themselves.

Martinez said the trip strengthened students’ relationships.

“They became one cohesive group in Orlando,” Martinez said. “They shifted from several small groups to everyone hanging out together as one group. I’m so blessed to have them.”

Parent chaperone Barbara Jarrell said it was a wonderful experience for her son.

“Mikey is still texting friends he met from Texas, Arizona and Washington,” she said. “The conference helps them succeed with general life skills in speaking, communications and networking that would apply to people in all careers, from teaching to business.”

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