On Sunday, eight students from Greeley West High School are competing at DECA State. Earlier this year, the students either took a test or role-played a business scenario to qualify for state. These students competed with other students in the Northern Colorado area to qualify for state at Districts.

DECA will be held in Colorado Springs at the Broadmoor Hotel.

Senior Michelle Lopez finished in second place at Districts and is heading to state.  Lopez is competing in Hotel and Lodging Management. At state, Lopez will be scored by two different judges and will have to make the  top six to continue to finals. If Lopez does well in finals, she would then advance to nationals. Typically, only three individuals or groups advance to nationals. The competition is going to be hard and it will tough to get into finals.

“DECA has given me a great experience into what the business world is like and I’m excited to compete against and learn from other students at state,” said Lopez.

Other students who will be competing at State include:  Allison Ramirez (accounting applications), Alexia Voss and Eastin Elliot (Hospitality Services), Spencer Evans (Financial Consulting), Karla Ibarra Ruiz (Principles of Business Management and Administration), Ryan Wethington (Principles of Finance) and Illijah Pearson (Entrepreneurship).

Evans is the only student who has been to DECA State in the past.  “Most of these guys have never qualified for something like this in their life and that’s what makes this so exciting,” DECA sponsor Mr. Rich Dufault said.