ATLANTA — Eight Crisp County High School DECA students are headed to national competition in Louisville, KY in April as a result of their recent showing at the state level.

About the state event, CCHS DECA Advisor Susan Fuller said, “I felt like I was running up and down those aisles every five second to try and get a picture of them on stage. They just kept calling our names.

“I was so proud. It is unbelievably rewarding to see the excitement on the kids’ faces as their names are called.”

Advisors from several other schools around the state “complimented the CCHS students on the wonderful showing they had at this event,” Fuller added.

All students who finished in 6th place or higher at the state contest in Atlanta will go on to the nationals.

Anna Grace McLeod had Crisp County’s only first place in Business Speech. She created and presented a speech highlighting her opinions on how advertising effects society. She scored a 99 out of 100 possible points at the state level!

Robbie Brubaker finished 2nd in Hospitality Services. He took a 100 question test on scenarios, terms, and other questions pertaining to the operations and marketing of businesses in the hospitality industry.

Also placing second were Tyler Kimbrel and Zack Jarrett in Entrepreneurship Promotion Written Plan. These young men wrote a 30 page manual and created a visual aid on promoting the idea of becoming an entrepreneur to their chosen market of Crisp County High School. They turned in the manual for penalty pointing and then presented a 15 minute presentation and questions case in front of the judges.

Whitney Fraser had a second place in state in Technical Sales. She completed a 100 question test on sales and prepared a powerpoint and sales presentation on the benefits a global positioning system would provide to a business.

She chose Cook Industrial Electric as her business to research and present on. She made her 10 minute sales pitch to judges at the state event.

Ravi Mehta placed third in Hotel and Lodging Management. In addition to competing in a written event Ravi took a 100 question multiple choice test on Hotel and Lodging Management.

His event also has a role play scenario for the top 20 test scores in the event. Ravi moved on to present a role play situation the day after his test and secured the third place in the state. Ravi has gone to nationals with this event for four consecutive years. He was Fuller’s first freshman to ever qualify for nationals and now his sister, Amee is her second.

Amee Mehta finished in fifth place with Principles of Business Management and Administration. This brand new event is open only to first year marketing students. Participants don’t have to be freshmen, but they do have to be first year marketing students.

Amee took a 100 question test on general marketing terms, scenarios, and information. She also had some questions that pertained to the business administration and management field.

She placed in the top 20 test scores which secures a spot for a next day role play appointment. She received a role play and was given 10 minutes to study the role play, take notes, and go before the judge with a 10 minute presentation and questions period.

Tyler Kimbrel earned a 6th place in Marketing Management. In addition to his written promotion plan, Tyler also took a 100 question test on marketing management issues and topics.

He placed in the top 20 scores and went on the next day to present a role play.

Also participating in the state event were Kush Brahmbhatt and Ravi Mehta who finished in the Top 10 Entrepreneurship Written Event (Business Plan). They created a 30 page business plan, a visual aid, and a 15 minute planned presentation on their business concept. They made it past the first round and were in the top 10 groups. They presented again to a different set of judges and their scores were averaged for a final score.

Leah Cobb was among the Top 20 competitors in Principles of Hospitality, Travel, and Tourism. She took a 100 question test and scored among the top 20 which allowed her to proceed into the final round and present a role play in front of two judges.

With separate projects, Kayla Barnes and Deanna Brubaker finished in the Top 20 in Business Services. They both took a 100 question test on business services and marketing, and scored among the top 20 scores. Kayla and Deanna proceeded to the next round that included a role play presentation to two judges.

Zack Jarrett finished in the Top 20 in Food Marketing. He took a 100 question test and qualified to move on to the next round of role plays.

Jamie Carr will be the CCHS DECA representative for the DECA Senior Executive Leadership Conference in Kentucky.

CCHS students performed very well at the region level, and 16 of the total 17 participants qualified for state.

There were eight first place finishers at region including Ravi Mehta in Hotel and Lodging Management; Amee Mehta in Principles of Business Management and Administration; Leah Cobb in Principles of Hospitality and Tourism; Jamie Carr in Buying and Merchandising Testing; Anna Grace McLeod in Business Speech; Robbie Brubaker in Hospitality Services; Tyler Kimbrel in Marketing Management and Kayla Barnes in Business Services.

Second place region winners included Tony Sears in Restaurant & Food Services Management; Cody Stripling in Sports and Entertainment Marketing; Tripp Blackwell in Business Administration; and Ben Carr in Business Management and Administration.

Zack Jarrett placed third in Food Marketing; Deanna Brubaker had a fourth in Business Services as did Anna Posey in Entrepreneurship Testing and Matthew Windhom in Principles of Marketing.

Fuller says Crisp County High School DECA has about 60 student members. They are involved in many community activities, competitive events,and leadership activities. To get involved with DECA or for additional information, interested persons should contact Fuller at 276-3430 Ext. 2212 or sfuller@crisp.k12.ga.us.