West Geauga senior Geordi Kogovsek and BHS senior Robbie Kaufman, members of Jean Getz’s Excel TECC marketing class, placed 1st and 2nd respectively at the the DECA marketing state championships in Columbus on March 15.

The students will advance to Nationals, which will be held in Anaheim, CA on April 24-27.

DECA  (Distributive Education Clubs of America) prepares students for careers in marketing.

In the state competition, Kaufman competed in the area of food marketing and Kogovsek competed in principles of business management and administration.

“They give me a scenario in which I am either the manager or the marketing director of a grocery store and they give me a problem… and then I have to solve it,” Kaufman said.

According to a DECA newsletter, Kogovsek will receive a DECA scholarship for placing first in his event.

West Geauga students Gavin Clark, Marissa Stark and Mary Anderson also placed in the top 10.

During the district and state competitions, the contestants take hundred question tests on the fundamentals of marketing, focusing on the subject in which they are competing. After the test, the contestant is given a case about the specific category.They then have to make a case in front of a judge. The scores are averaged out of these 200 points.

“When they are competing, they’re actually learning the marketing standards in a fun way,” Getz said.

In the marketing class, students can earn college credits. Students get to work with real businesses such as T.J. Maxx.

“The students learn the fundamentals of business and marketing,” Getz said.

“I would recommend [this class] to anybody that wants to get experience in the field of business,” Kogovsek said.