1,965 Missouri DECA students, 12 districts, one conference. After attending the district DECA conference with about 800 students, 34 of the 38 qualifying DECA students from FHN attended the annual Missouri DECA State Conference in Kansas City, MO from March 11 to March 13, where about 1,965 DECA students were competing for a spot at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC).

“I liked it because of just the great opportunity it was,” senior Estefania Cruz said. “[It was] fun being there. It was very enjoyable, very productive. We got to meet a lot of people. There wasn’t really anything I didn’t like.”

At the conference, students heard from a motivational speaker, competed in special events and networked with other schools. After three days of both studying, hard work and fun, the competitors heard the results in the grand awards ceremony. Here, seven FHN students found out they had qualified for ICDC.

“I think it was a phenomenal performance by our students,” DECA sponsor Melissa Hanrahan said. “I’m so very proud of the kids who qualified for districts to state and from state to ICDC. I think that they did a great job.”

With Internationals in the near future, from April 20 to April 25, qualifying students have little over a month to prepare for the big competition.

“I hope to do well,” senior Maddie Kraus said. “I’m excited to go with the people from our school, and I’m excited to see how everyone else does as well. I just think it’ll be a fun experience that I’m going to remember for a long time, just remembering that I did well and that I got to go to this other opportunity.”