On Friday November 4, the Greeley West DECA chapter had its regional competition at Johnson and Wales University.

There were 18 West students who competed but over 600 students who competed in the region overall from 10 different high schools. Of those 18 West students, 5 received first place in their event which qualified them for state. An additional eight students received second place in their event which means if the competitor who placed first decides not to go to state by Friday this Friday, the runner up will be able to compete at state.

DECA advisor, Mr. Richard Dufalt has been the chapter advisor for only two years but has already seen much progress.  “I’m very excited for the five students who are going to state but we also have an additional eight students who are potentially going to state,” he stated.

“I think our DECA students performed and did very well. Their test scores were the highest out of all the 10 high schools in the designated DECA region. To have doubled our chapter from last year to now and have many of those new members place second or qualify for state is very impressive,” Dufalt added.

Senior Andrew Wethington has qualified for state every year since freshman year. “It has been really nice qualifying every year but I definitely appreciate it more now that I am a senior. DECA has been very helpful with my public speaking and ‘on the spot’ problem solving,” he stated.

The DECA state competition will be held later in February at The Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs for three days.