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DECA, a national association of marketing education students, provides teachers and members with educational and leadership development activities to compliment and provide an opportunity to apply the concepts and skills learned in the classroom and on the job. DECA is not extracurricular; it is an integral part of the classroom instructional program. DECA chapters attract students who are interested in preparing for entrepreneurial, marketing or management careers. While DECA membership consists primarily of students in marketing programs, membership extends also to alumni and to professionals in marketing education and in marketing teacher education. Working hand-in-hand with the education and business communities, DECA’s goal is for its student members to develop a "career success kit" to carry into their business and personal lives after graduation; one that includes:
To accomplish this, DECA utilizes on-the-job experience, chapter projects, and a program of competency-based competitive events in specific marketing occupational areas. These events emphasize academic and vocational excellence as building blocks for successful marketing and management careers and demonstrate the direct relationship between marketing education and the real needs of business and industry. Each year more than 110,000 students participate in the competitions on the local, state and national levels. For an overview of DECA competitive events simply click the following link:
http://www.deca.org/celisting.html
To get a better idea of what DECA competition is all about, click the link below to read a short article that appeared in the New York Times about a local competition featuring George Ross of the Trump Organization and of "The Apprentice" fame.
http://www.deca.org/pdf/press05.pdf
A non-profit organization, DECA is governed by an elected Board of Directors. The National Advisory Board made up of representatives of major U.S. corporations and businesses who support DECA’s mission, and the Congressional Advisory Board made up of members of the U.S. Congress, offer members support and guidance. Since July 1991, the organization is known by its commonly recognized acronym, DECA, accompanied by the tag line, "An Association of Marketing Students". The familiar diamond DECA logo has been updated; newly designed to suggest the strength, stability, and forward-looking attitude of the association and its 180,000 student members.
In
1946, the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) organized around
an ambitions goal: to improve educational and career opportunities in marketing,
management and entrepreneurship for students. In the years since, DECA
has remained on the cutting edge of educational innovation, working with the
business community to integrate academic achievement with vocational and career
skills.
Over time, the needs of our membership have changed, and we have changed to meet
them. Yet the fundamental reasons we formed remain at our core: First, effective
marketing education gives young people the tools and aptitudes they need to
pursue their dreams. Second, marketing education works best when it's part
of an integrated education program linking classroom instruction with internship
experience for career success.
With 180,000 student members and faculty advisors, we function as the companion
student organization to over 5,000 marketing education programs in secondary and
postsecondary schools across the U.S., its territories and Canada. Our
once-revolutionary ideas have become models for effective educational
alternatives. DECA remains committed to the advocacy of marketing
education and the growth of business and education partnerships.
The mission of DECA is to enhance the co-curricular education of students with interests in marketing, management and entrepreneurship.
DECA helps students develop skills and competence for marketing careers, build self-esteem, experience leadership and practice community service.
DECA is committed to the advocacy of marketing education and the growth of business and education partnerships.
I
believe in the future which I am planning
for myself in the field of marketing
and management, and in the opportunities
which my vocation offers.
I believe in
fulfilling the highest measure
of service to my vocation, my fellow beings,
my country and my God-
that by so doing,
I will be rewarded with personal satisfaction
and material wealth.
I believe in the
democratic philosophies
of private enterprise and competition, and
in the freedoms of this nation-that these
philosophies allow for the fullest development
of my individual abilities.
I believe that by
doing my best to live
according to these high principles,
I will be of greater service both to myself
and to mankind.
To prepare marketing education students to take their proper places in the business world
To develop leadership characteristics
To develop self-confidence and self-acceptance
To develop a greater understanding of our competitive, free enterprise system
To further develop occupational competencies needed for careers in marketing, management and entrepreneurship
To develop high ethical standards in personal and business relationships
To develop effective international relationships
To develop a greater awareness of career opportunities in marketing
To develop greater proficiency in communication
To develop greater appreciation of the responsibilities of citizenship
To develop a healthy competitive spirit
To develop social and business etiquette