13 students competed at DECA Internationals from April 25-28 in Orlando, Florida with senior Eric Kerstens taking first place in his category.

Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on enhancing business education through workshops and competitions for students. According to a DECA press release, 18,000 students and advisors from eight countries competed in over 50 categories, each category naming a winner with a giant glass trophy and some earning monetary prizes.

“In Massachusetts there were four [trophies], and our school had one of them,” DECA adviser Patricia Riley said. “It’s a huge deal.”

The competition tests participants in various ways, most commonly with a written test and roleplay scenario. During each part of the test, individuals or teams of two present their work to a judge. The written test is scored for accuracy while the roleplay is scored based on how well participants stay in character.

Of the thirteen attending students, sophomores Katie Miller and Livvy Permatteo placed as finalists in the Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making category and Kerstens won first place in the Virtual Business Challenge Restaurant category.

“It was really satisfying to know that Livvy’s and my hard work paid off in the end,” Miller said. “I felt really proud because not many people get to say that they were finalists, so to be able to say that while we were still sophomores was really cool.”

The Virtual Business Challenge, unlike other categories, was a simulation. Kerstens and seven other competitors faced off virtually, each attempting to successfully manage a restaurant. The simulation consists of a multi-round bracket system that assess how well users can manage inventory, staffing, menu organization, and more within a restaurant.

“Initially, I tried the Virtual Business Challenge because it sounded kind of fun, and then I ended up being really good at it,” Kerstens said.

Kerstens spent his April break preparing for all possible situations that could be thrown at him.

“I went through all of the possible combinations and made general setups, so once I was in the game in Orlando I just had to analyze the situation, throw in the numbers, and go,” Kerstens said. “I went in knowing exactly what I had to do, and I guess that led me to victory.”

Kerstens was granted $1000 as a prize. His fellow DECA members were awed at his victory.

“It was really awesome,” sophomore Maggie Shatz said. “He’s best in the world at something, who can say they’re best in the world at something?”

“It was really a proud moment for Algonquin,” Miller said.

Senior Nate Ding has been a DECA member since his freshman year and always exhibits strong performance in competition. He placed as a finalist in his sophomore and junior years.

“Really with DECA, once you do it a couple of years, you really get the hang of it,” Ding said.

Even with a strong senior class exiting, Riley is confident that next year there will be more finalists.

“I’m looking forward to changes next year and more winners,” Riley said. “I really feel like we’re moving in a direction where kids are going to really start to compete. I feel like we’re going to have more finalists on the stage.”

In order to do this, Riley plans to open start workshops next year to teach students about the test and roleplay aspects of DECA. She also plans to localize DECA, to give it more meaning than a competition.

“We want to bring DECA to a new level, where it’s not just competitions, but an actual club,” Riley said.

“Overall, everyone did awesome,” Riley said. “I’m so proud of everyone, they did so well.”