El Dorado Springs DECA Competes at State

Members of the El Dorado Springs DECA chapter competed at the 77th Missouri DECA State Career Development Conference (SCDC) at Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri on March 23-25, 2025. The nine DECA members were among the over 2,000 high school students and advisors who attended the conference. This year’s conference theme was “Adventure Awaits” which reminded students that leadership isn’t just about reaching a destination but the journey—the experiences, risks, and the decisions all must make. While at the conference, the students had the opportunity to network with other DECA members from all over the state, hear an amazing keynote speech from Dr. Laymon Hicks and compete in various Marketing events. Competing this year were Gabby Boch in Community Giving Project, Sean Berry and Kandon McGuirk in Marketing Management Team Decision Making, Darlinda Davis and Danica Lowrey in Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making, Kyson McGuirk and Graydee Wolfe in Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making, Kyndal Swopes in Principals of Business Administration, and Lilly Willinger in Professional Selling.

Back row from left: Graydee Wolfe, Kandon McGuirk, Sean Berry, and Kyson McGuirk; front row from left: Kyndal Swopes, Danica Lowrey, Darlinda Davis, Lilly Willinger and Gabby Boch.

Gabby Boch medaled, placing in the “Top Ten” in her event. Boch’s project “Tackling Hunger” raised money and nonperishable food donations for The Hope Center. The Tackling Hunger Powder Puff game was planned by Boch and Abbie Goulardt as well as other DECA members to help with food insecurity in our community. We are extremely proud of all DECA’s accomplishments this year.