Local students head to Nevada for national DECA convention
If her aptitude at the high school level is any indication, Warren County High School senior Lindsi Mayfield is well on her way to a successful career in her chosen field in business and marketing after earning top marks in a state-level marketing competition.
As a result, Mayfield, the class of 2002’s valedictorian, is in Salt Lake City this weekend attending the national convention of the DECA club, the International Career Development Conference which attracts over 13,000 students, advisors and business people. DECA is a national marketing club which help students at the high school and college levels become more knowledgeable about the field and helps to prepare them for careers in marketing.
The highlight of DECA membership is the opportunity to better learn different business fields and practices by participating in one of the club’s competency-based competitive events. For Mayfield, that has meant competing in the retail merchandising event, which she has done since she joined DECA three years ago. Each year of competition she has fared increasingly better, moving from region, to state and finally to national competition.
At each level the competition’s format remains the same: Two role play situations and two written tests. In the role play situations competitors are put in the role of a supervisor or employee in a simulated retail situation taken from the business world and judged on their reactions by actual members of the merchandising industry. At the state level, Mayfield, an avid reader and lover of children’s literature, won first place in one these event as she assumed the role of a children’s book store operator who needed to come up with ideas to increase sales.
The written tests gauge the knowledge of competitors’ economic and marketing skills, which are taught in high school business and marketing classes. Mayfield finished first in the written skills test category at both the regional and state levels.
High school DECA sponsor Nancy Mayfield, Lindsi’s mother, said she expects her daughter to be able to hold her own against the other state winners from across the country. “She’ll do well in the role play situation because she’s good on her feet and if there’s anything Lindsi can do it’s talk. Plus, she’s always been a good test-taker, so that’ll help her too,” she said.
The elder Mayfield noted she is especially hopeful Lindsi performs well as the top competitors in each of the events receive college scholarships. The younger Mayfield is set to attend David Lipscomb University in the fall to study business and marketing.
Fellow DECA member Megan Hillis, a junior, will accompany Mayfield to Salt Lake City as a voting delegate to the national convention. She was chosen to attend the convention because of her status as a second-year competitor at the state level DECA competition. While there she will attend convention sessions and elect new national DECA officers.
The elder Mayfield and fellow club sponsor Ann Terry will also accompany the students. The group returns from Salt Lake City on Wednesday.