On Dec. 5, 13 students went to Crowne Plaza Hotel to compete at the District II Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) competition. Competing against approximately 130 students from North Allegheny, Aliquippa, Beaver County CTC, Ambridge and PA Cyber, Freedom students took the stage with six first place winners, six second place winners, and one fourth place winner. “I felt very surprised and shocked when I was called onto the stage,” Ryan Gray, Vice President of Freedom DECA chapter said. “The competition was very intense, and I felt sure the other kids would win.” The students had to take a general marketing test along with their cluster test. Each category had a different cluster ranging from marketing to business management to logistics. After lunch there was a dance going on while the students had to participate in role plays. “It was terrifying sitting across the table from a person who works with marketing and business almost every day,” Gray said. “But my judge was really nice, and it ended up going really well by the time I was done.” Once role plays were done, the students convened for the awards ceremony. The top three kids in individual events and the top two teams would continue on to states. The states competition will take place Feb. 27, 28 and March 1 at Hershey, PA.