The Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) is a popular club with a chapter at Encinal preparing emerging leaders and entrepreneurs with real world skills for future careers. It includes over 292,000 members across 4,000 schools, spanning both high school and college divisions. Encinal has around 100 DECA members each year, though only a fraction of these competitors make it to the final conference–ICDC.
NorCal Conference
On January 16, 101 students boarded buses towards the San Ramon Marriott, where the 3-day Northern California Development DECA conference awaited them. While this conference was promising, it was also competitive, with nearly 2,500 participants from all over California. Amidst the crowd of high-achieving members, Encinal students did not go unnoticed. Around 45% of the Jets staged and received awards across a diverse range of specialities, some of which included Business Finance, Franchise Business and Entrepreneurship. Despite the anticipated pressure of competing against hundreds, students succeeded in remaining composed and professional, showcasing the immense preparation they had put in during study times and practice sessions. For many students, good preparation meant studying months before the conference began. Some students utilized their marketing periods, while others took to privately studying or attending mandatory practice sessions that were hosted after school.
Upon their arrival to the San Ramon Marriott, Encinal’s 101-Student Delegation made their quick transitions into professional-mode. The weekend kicked off on Friday with a 100-question testing session from around 5:00 to 7:00 PM, followed by an exciting opening session to close out Day 1. Saturday was another marathon, packed with an early breakfast, written event presentations, and high-stakes role-play scenarios before judges. The three-day conference reached its close after the Sunday afternoon’s awards ceremony, where the Jets celebrated their achievements before boarding the same bus for the ride home, hopeful and energized for the upcoming States conference journey.
“I’m really excited for states,” shares freshman Brent MacDonald. “I studied really hard [for NorCal], and I’m also going to study more for states.”
Students had little time to rest as State qualifiers needed to prepare to represent Encinal in Anaheim, California from February 26-March 1.
CA State Conference
The journey to the State Career Development Conference (SCDC), began under the stars with several students arriving on campus at 2:00 AM on Wednesday, February 25. After a six-hour drive down to Anaheim, the Jets kicked off the trip with an up-beat day of excitement at Disney California Adventure. The visit gave students a chance to recharge before once again shifting into professional-mode for the 4,900-participant conference.
“When we got there at first, it was super full,” said sophomore Janessa To, “I was kind of intimidated.”
For the following four days, Encinal DECA members maintained their pace, balancing the intense grind of the state competition with the rigorous expectations of the California DECA stage. This followed a stretch of back-to-back role-plays and extensive industry testing served as the ultimate challenge to the students’ business stamina and knowledge. The “marathon-like” experience came to a close on the morning of Sunday, March 1, with the Grand Awards ceremony once again. As the trophies and successes were officially secured, the Jets packed their gear and finally headed home, officially concluding their start to the 2026 competitive season.
As of March 4, 18 students had officially “punched their ticket,” and qualified for Internationals, which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia this April. Over 24,000 members will be participating from over 20 different countries in the final race for DECA scholarships.
States Results
The following students listed have all qualified for the International DECA Conference.
