DECA members, according to sponsor Laura Cardamon, will compete in their state competition from March 9 to 11 at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. Students will compete either individually or as part of a team in many events, including principles of business administration, team decision-making, business operations research and business management and entrepreneurship. During the competition, students will take a written exam and participate in a role-playing portion. The top three in each event will then advance to the national competition.

DECA members, Cardamon said, have often advanced to nationals in previous years and are looking this year to continue the trend.

“Our (goal) is to send students in every event to compete at DECA Nationals in Atlanta in May,” Cardamon said via email.

Mitchell Morfas, DECA president and senior, said his goal is also for members to win state and advance to the national competition.

“I’m very confident that we’re going to reach our goal,” Morfas said. “I definitely think we have a very strong chance of winning state and pushing a lot of our members to nationals this year. We’re a lot more organized, and our members are a lot more focused than in previous years. Everyone’s just doing such a great job with putting in the time and effort to push DECA to the state competition and beyond.”