The Tribune staff reports
Brownstown Central High School’s DECA Club competed in a district competition Jan. 10 at Martinsville High School.
The school sent 18 students to compete against three other Indiana high schools in its district — Columbus North, Martinsville and Monrovia.
Five of the students earned a first-place medal, and eight earned a second-place medal. All of them advance to the state competition, set for March 4, 5 and 6 in Indianapolis.
Students placing first included Czarina Agpalza, Colton Cooper and Haylee Gullion in individual series events and Katie Rohlfing and Alexis Markel in a team decision event.
Students placing second included Micah Ballard, Maranda Emery, Braden Fields and Arly Peters in individual series events and Austin Fleetwood and Miranda McClusky and Cailyn Keithley and Carly Perry in team decision events.
Also going to state with written projects are Destiny Mowdy, Kylene Spall, Hannah Hughes, Nate Price and Brayton Hattabaugh.
DECA is a worldwide high school club that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and business management and administration.
Brownstown’s chapter also recently achieved Thrive Level on its chapter campaigns, allowing the club to receive a pennant, a plaque, a flag and three allocations to attend the Thrive Academy at the International Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
Chapter campaigns are a series of events, from school and community outreach to success stories of DECA alumni and local entrepreneurs.
Brownstown’s chapter is one of six in Indiana to achieve Thrive Level status and only one of two to complete all three campaigns.
The club achieved this level through Global Entrepreneurship Week, where members submitted three video idea challenges involving students’ ideas on a new product using rubber bands.
The status also was achieved through promotional events from the beginning of school to the end of DECA Month, which is November. Members participated in school outreach activities, including the DECA diamond hunt, DECA donuts, DECA demolition car and a slogan game on the announcements at school.
The chapter also collected three success stories of alumni and did three community outreach programs, including presentations to the Brownstown Exchange Club and Brownstown Central school administrators and Granny Gamer, a technology-sharing activity at Hoosier Christian Village.
DECA also conducted community service activities by raising more than 400 blankets for Sertoma Christmas Miracle and had 75 percent chapter participation. The latter included a form of publicity or promotion of DECA.