With over 600 members, one of the biggest and most prominent clubs on campus, DECA, always provides events on deck for its members to support and learn more about the club and earn coveted “DECA diamonds,” the organization’s way of motivating their members to participate with the incentive of extra credit in class.

Recently, those events were the National Academy of Finance (NAF) open house and the first DECA kickback night. The open house invited new and prospective middle and high school members of NAF to learn about what both NAF and DECA are all about. The members of DECA were also able to raise over $1,000 for their club activities, trips and events this year through their kickback night at Coldstone Creamery and Hurricane’s Grill in the Heron Bay Plaza.

This year, DECA members can look forward to the student Shark Tank event, various regional, state and national competitions and several interesting chapter projects. Projects to look for include Sea La Vie, promoting ocean conservation, Voices for Venezuela, a charity project for aid to Venezuela and CEO, a project focusing on entrepreneurship. Executive presidents Florence Yared and Ariana Ortega hope to create a very successful year for their members this year.

“This year, we’ve improved our efficiency by implementing performance reviews for our executive officers,” said Ortega. “This will allow us to make sure our officers are doing their very best for DECA’s many activities.”

As one of the largest and most active chapters in the state, Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school’s DECA is gearing up for a productive year ahead of them.