Dominating the DECA competition

By Lauren Kaled and Elissa Singh

April 2, 2025

With increased interest and participation in the Distributive Education Clubs of America group, President senior Caleb Kosel and Vice-President senior Leilani Feltman have been able to help propel the North chapter of DECA, including their five new members, to the state competition this March.

Although many students have the impression of DECA being a competitive business and marketing club, Feltman sees the club as a significant opportunity for students to create meaningful connections and learn new ways to incorporate valuable career skills into their daily lives.

“My goal for DECA as an officer is to expand it because there’s many people in the school that I think would do really good in DECA that choose not to do it because they don’t want the work, however, I think that everyone would have a lot of fun in it, and it’s not as academic as people may think,” Feltman said.

Business is not the only topic that DECA teaches students how to navigate. With the wide variety of business related topics that are taught, Kosel has learned to apply the DECA skills to several different fields outside of business.

“There’s some nicher [subjects] like supply chain or dealing with maybe restaurant management,” Kosel said. “You could come in not necessarily interested in business, but more so articulating yourself for, if you’re going into law, being a lawyer, or knowing how to run a busy nursing position.”

DECA competitions consist of business related events and challenges given by judges. Having been in the club since freshman year, Kosel has become accustomed to the sort of questions asked, developing the skills for his future in a business environment in the process.

“You’re given a scenario related to your event, so it could be marketing related, could be finance related, accounting related for myself,” Kosel said. “Then once those ten minutes are up, you bring your notes and you’re presented in front of a judge where you kind of present your ideas or just general inner workings of the scenario.”

DECA provides the chance for members to establish professional connections, and for Feltman, these relationships are her central passion for the club. Interacting with other students across the state has given her a sense of comfort in her future business career.

“My favorite thing about DECA is definitely meeting people from everywhere,” Feltman said. “I’ve made friends that I still talk to from Michigan. I met a bunch of girls from Spain last year and other states and other countries. It’s really fun just building those connections, especially because most people in DECA will end up somewhere in the business field and those connections could really help you later in life.”

Q&A: Leilani -Vice President

Dream Vacation: Paris, France

Hobbies: Painting and playing Lacrosse

Favorite Movie: “Ten Things I Hate About You”

Favorite Celebrity: Sabrina Carpenter

Favorite School Subject: History

Favorite Musician: Taylor Swift

Favorite Movie Character: “Brady” from the “Teen Beach Movie”

Favorite Store: Aritzia

Favorite Food: Chicken and waffles

Favorite Animal: Otter

Q & A: Caleb -President