Chloe Stork to finals at national competition

Not only did NRHEG junior and DECA member Chloe Stork make it to national level competition, to her complete surprise she advanced to the final round in her category, which had about 200 participants at the organization’s international convention held in Orlando, Florida, from April 26 to 29. That means, points out DECA advisor Michael Meihak, she has the right to claim she’s among the top 20 in the world.

DECA was founded in 1946. The organization helps high-schoolers prepare for careers in business fields by increasing their skills in communication, organization, and personal professionalism.

This is Stork’s second year with the NRHEG team. “I am a competitive person,” she admits. “But I really looked at DECA as a way to gain leadership skills and find out more about careers.”

In keeping with that, she took part in the category “Hotel, Lodging, and Management” for the first time this year. She placed fifth at Minnesota’s state convention in March, earning a place at the international convention.

The event was a valuable experience all on its own, she comments. “At the opening ceremony there was a ‘flag walk.’ A flag from every state and country that was at the convention was carried across the stage.

“That really helped me understand just how far-reaching this all is.”

Also part of that message were the interactions she had with others. “When I checked in, I was given this whole bag of Minnesota pins,” she describes. “We would exchange pins with people as we met them and talked.” Though Stork ended up with only 15 or so trades, she observed others had apparently made a goal of acquiring a thorough collection, and would display it on a long ribbon. Along with that, “We would be waiting between rounds, and I would have conversations with people from Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas–all these different places.”

According to information shared at the convention, more than 26,000 people took part. The schedule included numerous opportunities, as Stork phrases it, “to experience Florida.” Among those was an evening when Universal Studios theme park closed to all others and welcomed convention-goers.

Stork says her path to the finals round was the same as it had been at previous, more local competitions: The first step is to complete a 60-question test covering industry practices and standards within a 90-minute time limit. This took place on Sunday, the first full day of the convention. 

Competitors were scheduled for two rounds of  “role play” sessions on Monday. In each round, they were presented with a circumstance or situation relative to the lodging business, given a window of time to devise an approach or response, and then required to deliver their ideas in a conversation with a judge. In Stork’s category, with about 200 participants, there were 20 sections of role play competition with 10 competitors in each.

The last full day of the convention was Tuesday, April 29. A preliminary award ceremony began at 8:30 a.m.

“We were going to go to the ceremony, and then spend the day at the beach,” remembers Stork.

To her complete surprise, however, she was called to the stage when it came time to announce awards in her category.

Meihak describes the event: “It was chaos on stage,” he says lightheartedly. “There were so many people up there, and not all of them were going to be advancing to finals.”

Medals were given for high scores on the test, and for placing either first or second in any of the 20 sections held during both round one and round two the day before.

Meihak describes that, as he and Chloe’s father Dan stood at the edge of the stage, Chloe acquired three medals. “We realized she would be going to finals,” he recalls. “We couldn’t help joking, ‘There goes the day at the beach!’”

A second award ceremony was held Tuesday evening. Chloe did not place at a level which garnered her a trophy.

Chloe is not upset. “It was pretty cool to be up on stage at a national convention,” she observes. “It was a great experience, and a lot more than I expected.” 

Meihak is delighted with Chloe’s accomplishment. “It really speaks well for her as an individual and for NRHEG as a school,” he observes. He goes on to mention he has become acquainted with other DECA advisors, one of whom is Eric Roesler, a 1994 NRHEG graduate who is now a business teacher at Jefferson High School in Bloomington, where he has been the school’s DECA advisor for 21 years.

“After 21 years, this was the first time he had a competitor advance to the finals round at the national level,” Meihak shares. “I think that really helps show what an impressive accomplishment this truly is.”