Liberty DECA had some impressive results from the DECA International Competition in Orlando, Florida from April 22-25. There were 22,000 students from the United States, Canada, Spain, Germany, Guam, China and other international countries competing in the competition.

The entire state of Missouri had 15 events move on to the final competition; two of those events were Liberty DECA students. Of the 15 events that moved on in the final competition, seven of them were called to the stage to be recognized in the top 10 in their event; two of those events were Liberty DECA students.

Arthi Kondapaneni competed against 164 other competitors in her event, Community Giving Project, and she received first place.

“We as a group did amazing this year,” Kondapaneni said. “We sent 14 students to internationals which is one of the largest amounts. Additionally, we had two students become top 10 in the world and I personally had the honor of placing first in my category.”

Madalyn Breckenridge and Brooke Suftko competed against 154 other competitors in their event, Sales Project, and they were top 10 finalists.

“We were only expecting to make it to prelims. We kind of all said, ‘Oh, we’ll go to the pool after prelims cause none of us will make it to finals,’ but then when we had people make it to finals. It was a really cool and unexpected event,” Suftko said.

Liberty DECA was the only school in Missouri to bring home a first place trophy.

“I would like to highlight my DECA sponsors, Mrs. Muench and Mrs. Taylor, for handling 14 kids in Orlando for five days,” Kondapaneni said. “Also, my roommates Audrey Fleetwood, Brooke Suftko and Madalyn Breckenridge, because they were so fun and easy to cohabitate with; they are my best friends. They all did amazing in their events at the district, state, and the international competition.”

DECA has made a big impact in these students’ high school experience.

“DECA has truly changed my life, and I encourage anyone and everyone to join,” Kondapaneni said. “Not only has it given me my best friends, but it has also allowed me to meet people from all around the world and compete in international competitions.”