From Friday, January 17th to Sunday, January 19, Irvington’s DECA Chapter competed in the 2025 Northern California District Career Development Conference, more frequently referred to as NorCal, in San Ramon.
Commonly seen as a practice conference for DECA members, NorCal is an opportunity for students from around the region to represent their school as they apply their experience, skills, and knowledge to compete for the top.
After arriving at the San Ramon Marriott Friday after lunch, DECA members settled into their hotel rooms with upto 3 other roommates before filing into conference rooms for event testing. “For room accommodations, I had two open slots for roommates, but my most memorable experience ended up being able to stay with my friends in the hotel room,” says Brian Jin (11), a new DECA member. “You don’t get that kind of opportunity, especially in a school environment.” The planning process for NorCal takes months in advance, according to Mr. Ballado, one of the three advisors for Irvington’s DECA chapter.
On Saturday, DECA members participated in their competitive events, including Individual Series, Team Decision Making Events, and Principles Events. Additionally, students gave presentations to parent judges during their Written Events. Many students experienced issues with scheduling conflicts. “NorCal is a three day conference. Both presentation and roleplay happen on the same day, so scheduling conflicts are just a part of the NorCal experience,” says Shreya Prashantha (12), one of the three presidents of Irvington’s DECA Chapter.
Once again, Irvington dominated the 2025 NorCal Grand Awards Ceremony as the #1 Chapter with a total of 82 finalists. 35 Irvington students took home a DECA Glass trophy for placing as one of the top 3 finalists. Among our finalists, 14 students secured 1st place. Multiple Irvington students, Arnav Dua (12), Gabriela Yin (11), Anushka Patel (12), Apuroop Padamatinti (12), and Manit Mishra (12), received double DECA Glass trophies, marking an incredible achievement for Irvington!
Many new DECA members were satisfied with their performances at their first conference. “I placed 7th overall in the Business Growth Plan (EGB) event,” says Jin. “I feel that I placed according to the amount of work I put into DECA.”
Fortunately, both new and experienced DECA members will have increased opportunities to improve upon their performances. “DECA is the work that you put into it. It isn’t magic: being able to consistently put in the work and show up to sessions makes a real difference,” Prashantha advises.
Using data collected from student performances during NorCal, the Irvington DECA Officer team plans to open up FLEX sessions every Wednesday or Thursday for practice. “We can’t invest time in every single student: that’s just the reality of being in a large club,” says Prashantha. “Our goal is to create space for students to come in and put in extra effort.” Additionally, the DECA Officer team is preparing valuable lesson plans for weekly Monday sessions. “We are trying to develop improved lesson plans for both new and experienced members to take away valuable lessons,” says Mr. Ballado. “I want our success at NorCal to continue because this club helps students tremendously in so many aspects, such as in networking.”
With NorCal ending as a complete success for Irvington, students begin to prepare for the State Conference (SCDC). Taking place from February 27 to March 2 in Anaheim, SCDC is an opportunity for California DECA members to compete and qualify to the International Career Development Conference (ICDC), where DECA’s success is sure to continue.
