Parkside students, back row, from left, Dan Stewart, Doye Collier, Julie Jarvie, front row, Olivia Hoskin, Nakita Ryerson, Emily Rees and Elissa Mielke took their favourite community newspaper to Atlanta.

Parkside's DECA chapter has had a successful year contending in business competitions at regional, provincial and international levels.

In November, 50 out of the 60 members qualified to attend the provincial competition. Seven members were then awarded the opportunity to travel to Atlanta, Georgia, to compete against 15,000 students from across North America.

The trip to Atlanta was exhilarating for the Parkside students. Some attended Leadership Academies and others competed.

Nakita Coquim attended the Leadership Academy where over 1,500 students were divided into groups to hone their leadership skills. Julie Jarvie and Emily Rees attended the Senior Management Institute to strengthen their leadership and interpersonal skills. Elissa Mielke, Olivia Hoskin and Doye Collier competed in the role-play individual events in restaurant and food management, food marketing and accounting applications, respectively.

Playing up his personal selling technique was Dan Stewart, who competed in the technical sales event. Elissa Mielke, after singing the Canadian National Anthem in front of the 15,000 students, teachers and business moguls, went on to finish eighth in her category. Olivia Hoskin qualified for the finals and placed an honourable top 20 in her event.

DECA gives students an opportunity to practise what is being taught in their classrooms. The students compete using real-life scenarios that assist them in the communication, problem-solving and interpersonal skills. Parkside has had a legacy with the organization of DECA, not only in the Hamilton region, but also in the province.

The exemplary students, from a small community high school, can compete and succeed when faced against the much larger high schools across the province.

Over 10 percent of the school's population is involved in DECA, which enhances the classroom learning by providing conferences and competitions that develop high school students into character-driven leaders.