Five MHS students will be attending the DECA state competition, the State Career Devolved Conference, in Downtown Detroit will be from March 5-7. Fourteen students attended the district competition at Eastern Michigan University and five qualified for states. The students will compete against the other qualifiers from across the state of Michigan with similar interests in business.The students attending are seniors Madison Janes, Darby Klemz, Mason Petree, and sophomores Rachel Folger and Lexi Klemz.

Darby and Lexi Klemz qualified for the Travel and Tourism team event, Petree and Janes qualified for the Sports and Entertainment team event, and Folger qualified for Human Resource Management event.

Folger said she was shocked to hear that she qualified for the upcoming competition. “I almost cried when I found out I was going,” Folger said. “I went in blind with no preparation, so the fact that I made it is what excites me the most.”

Darby Klemz said that the thrill of going to the state competition is to go with her sister, Lexi. “We were both really excited because we both went to states last year and to attend states for the second year together as sisters is a whole other level of fun,” she said. “Not to mention the different events and competitions throughout the whole conference.”

Lexi Klemz said she enjoys the variety of events to attend at the competition. “There’s other activities that you can go to, other than the competition where you can learn new things,” she said. “It gives me a different perspective on business and what I plan on going into.”