The Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) is a well-known organization that hosts annual competitions for students with a potential career in business and economy. Among the many schools who compete, Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute’s DECA teams have always placed highly, frequently having members qualify and attend the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). Upholding the standards of past expectations, this year, our DECA chapter has performed favourably at regionals once more. 

Previously, DECA competitions were held in-person, involving gatherings of competitors from various different schools. Roleplays were performed in front of actual judges and competitors were able to physically speak and interact with them. However, due to the current pandemic, competitions have become fully virtual. Despite this, MGCI’s DECA chapter did not dwindle in preparing themselves. Meets were organized weekly and a signup sheet for roleplays with executives was created. Resources from the past were shared and members pushed one other to prepare themselves.

The virtual regional competitions for oral events were held this year on 21 and 22 November. On the 21st, students were judged on their roleplays.  They were asked to prepare and present their respective business cases and then submit an audio file of their presentation online. On the 22nd, they wrote their written multiple choice exams which usually take place online but were done from their own homes this time around. Aside from these oral events structured with a roleplay and an exam, many members also competed through written business reports, which involved researching, creating, and submitting their business reports to be judged by 25 November. 

All DECA members worked tremendously hard, the result of which paid off on 6 December. This year, the awards ceremony took place through Youtube where the top twenty contestants in each of the competition’s events were presented. As predicted, many of MGCI’s members placed, with 2 teams achieving an impressive rank as first. Even among the beginning ninth graders, many placed top sixty, top twenty, and remarkably, two students placed first and second. Business reports were also well done on a whole, with 8 teams whose reports qualified.  

All in all, MGCI’s DECA team did a great job. No matter the rank or event, they all worked hard and should be greatly appreciated for the efforts they put in this past month. Furthermore, we show our appreciation and encouragement for the effort they will continue to show throughout the rest of this year. Keep it up and best of luck at provincials! 

The Reckoner would like to congratulate the following students on their achievement:

Vicky Wen (AAM) – Top 60 Overall

Richard Zhu (ACT)  – Top 20 Overall

Lucas Kim (ASM) – Top 60 Overall

Max Lu (ASM) – Top 20 Overall 

Stanley Zhang (ASM) – Top 60 Overall

Nishtha Patel (BFS) – Top 20 Overall

Anushka Tripathi (BFS) – Top 60 Overall

Miranda Zhao (BFS) – Top 20 Overall

Lisa Zhang (BSM) – Top 60 Overall

Derek Xu (ENT) – Top 20 Overall

Laura Gao (ENT) – Top 60 Overall

Carrie Jiang (FSM) – Top 60 Overall

Jonathan Wu (HLM) – Top 20 Overall

Bilal Bartaai (HLM) – Top 60 Overall

Evelyn Jiang (HRM) – Top 20 Overall

Leah Huang (HRM) – Top 20 Overall

Mahyar Yousefzadeh (PBM) – Top 20 Overall, 1st Place Overall

Caroline Cheng (PBM) – Top 20 Overall, 2nd Place Overall

Iris Ma (PBM) – Top 60 Overall

Jefferson Chen (PFL) – Top 60 Overall

Maggie Pang (PFN) – Top 20 Overall

Yameen Aziz (PFN) – Top 20 Overall

Samara Rahman (PFN) – Top 20 Overall

Amy Li (PHT) – Top 20 Overall

Vivien Xiang (PHT) – Top 20 Overall

Michael Yang (PHT) – Top 60 Overall

Anne Liu (PMK) – Top 20 Overall

Emily Ma (SEM) – Top 60 Overall

Aimee Li, Larissa Long (BLTDM) – Top 20 Overall

Lucy Qi, Allyson Wu (BTDM) – Top 20 Overall

Annie Xiong, Angela Xu (BTDM) – Top 60 Overall

Ray Hang, Wenzhao Pan (BTDM) – Top 60 Overall

Tina Ma. Alex Yu (FTDM) – Top 20 Overall

William Lin, Matthew Liu (HTDM)  – Top 20 Overall

Ivy Sun, Kelly Wang (MTDM) – Top 20 Overall

Anirudh Goel, Vinson Zhang (MTDM)- Top 20 Overall, 1st Place Overall

Nathan Latka, Brenan Srisatkuru (STDM) – Top 60 Overall

Amy Jia, Emma Liu (STDM) – Top 60 Overall

Jacqueline Huo, Lynn Shibata (TTDM) – Top 20 Overall, 1st Place Overall

Allan Li, Karan Minaie (TTDM) – Top 20 Overall