Members of the Owensville High School (OHS) Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA chapter joined numerous high school business, finance, hospitality and marketing students at the annual association career development conference held on Feb. 5 at Rolla S&T in Rolla.

After competing at the DECA district competition, 12 Owensville High School students advanced to the State Career Development Conference in March. The following 12 students received recognition for placing in the top two at DECA districts and will now be attending the state competition: Joleen Braun, Carly Julius, Jenna Hoffman, Kerrigan Griffin, Payton Meyers, Addie Scheer, Lily Barker, Abbey Qualico, Piper Koeling, Brendan Kramme, and Zach Barch.

Each student advancing to the state competition in March has dedicated countless hours to preparing their projects in order to compete at a high level.

Julius, a former first-place state winner, will once again attend the state competition to compete in the Sales Project event. Hoffman, a previous Top 10 state qualifier, will compete in the Business Solutions Project event. Lily Barker, another multi-year state qualifier, will also represent the team at the state competition.

“Our state competitors are more than excited to compete and represent our chapter at the Missouri State DECA Conference,” said Julius, OHS DECA Officer.

Julius, a former first-place state winner, will once again attend the tate competition to compete in the Sales Project event. Jenna Hoffman, a previous Top 10 state qualifier, will compete in the Business Solutions Project event. Barker, another multi-year state qualifier, will also represent the team at state.