Hi Florida DECA!


Helping out in your community is a huge part of DECA. Not only for community service hours for bright futures or for public relations, but because it is our responsibility to help those who are less fortunate than us.

Florida DECA is holding one more community service event this year. It is the Helping Hands Mac N Cheese Drive!   We are asking all DECA Chapters to bring boxes of   

Mac N Cheese to our State Career & Development Conference this year in Orlando!  All the Mac N Cheese boxes collected will be given directly to the Seminole County Families in Transition, which is a not-for-profit organization that helps starving children and families in the local area.  The winning chapter will receive a traveling trophy!

The majority of things we can do for community service projects are right in our local communities and schools. There are many things you can do to help, from coastal clean up projects, Relay for Life, school events, local food banks, animal shelters, home building, and more.

To make the most difference, find something you have a passion for - something that you care about!  At Riverview High School we have a passion for Muscular Dystrophy because it hit home with us. Our head custodian’s son was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. The past 5 years we have held a school wide campaign every year to help raise money and make home renovations to make his life just a little easier.

So find your passion and make your difference!

Who will be able hold the trophy March 2nd?

Good luck everyone at your district competition!  I look forward to seeing you at the State Conference! Remember, do more than survive, Thrive!


Jason Richards
Florida DECA Vice President

Hey Florida DECA!

I hope you have had a great winter break and are ready to get back to school!

Many of you reading this post are DECA officers for your school’s chapter.  But are you great officers?  That is something that you should be asking yourself.  Am I doing the best that I can?  Am I doing my job?  Am I getting chapter members involved?  Am I a great leader? 

Being a great officer isn’t easy.  Promoting DECA activities and competition to students who don’t care as much as you can be really difficult.  Through my experiences as a DECA officer, I can tell you that by getting chapter members involved at meetings and in decision making, helps to make them interested about those activities.  By putting a poll on your Facebook page for members to give their input can help them feel more involved and accepted by your group.  By personally texting members saying that you would love to have them come to the next meeting, you are creating a connection between that person and DECA, a connection that they will continuously think about. 

Making members feel welcomed and accepted in DECA is the most important thing about being a great officer!  If you do that, all of the other things will fall into place, and now you have friends to help you with the work required to do those things!

As always, if you have any questions on being a great DECA officer or anything else, please feel free to email me at schajaz@me.com or send me a message on Facebook.  I challenge all of you to be the best DECA officer that you can!