DECA Takes Over Cali Friday, May 15, 2009 By Peyton Harrison [ArticleImageHyperLink] Advertising DECA recently traded drab Missouri weather for sunny California weather when they went to International DECA in Anaheim, CA. Six pairs made it to Internationals from Cameron. The teams of Seniors Sylvre Blades and Sarah Curtis, Kat Burnett and Steven Lammers, Jocelyn Kilmer and Laura Carr, Amber Nelson and Bethany Barnes, Juniors Drucilla Fletcher and Tiffany Hamilton, Abbie Barker and Sarah Fritz were the lucky few. DECA Sponsor Mrs. Williams accompanied them. They boarded their flight on April 28, and were there until May 3. "Our flight was amazing. When we were taking off in Denver, there were so many mountains and they were snow capped! Everything was just so amazing!" exclaimed Kat. This trip was her first time outside of Missouri borders. Their first day there they checked into their hotel, The Hilton, which is right next to the Anaheim Convention Center. Then they headed to Huntington beach and a street market. Wednesday, they spent all day at Universal Studios and had their opening session for DECA. On Thursday, they turned in their projects and found out their competition time. "Afterwards, we went to downtown Disney and we saw the Lego store, and then that night we went to a Dodgers game in LA," said Kat. Late afternoon on Friday, the teams presented their projects to the judges. Laura said, "I felt pretty confident. It was my third time presenting in front of judges so I kind of knew what they wanted." Next, they went to Disneyland and went out to eat with Mrs. Williams. Saturday afternoon they had a mini-awards ceremony where the top ten from each category went on stage and then compete in finals. The grand awards ceremony was held on Saturday night. Unfortunately, no one from Cameron placed. Nonetheless, this trip was very much earned. These students worked incredibly hard for weeks on their projects. "My favorite part of DECA is when everything we have done has come together and all our hard work pays off and we get recognized for it," said Amber Nelson. "I'm proud of it," added her partner Bethany Barnes,"we worked on this project almost every night for weeks." "A lot of time was spent just making it [to Internationals]. We had to place top four in the state. Kat, Allison [Murphy], and I completed the thirty page project with a lot of help from Mrs. Williams," explained Steven. Overall, it was a fun learning experience and insight for them. Even though it was very time consuming, it was worth it in the end. Good job DECA!

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