SOUTH FORSYTH — South Forsyth High School recently took home more than half of the first-, second- and third-place honors at a regional marketing competition.

The school’s DECA chapter secured 32 of the 58 total top three finishes during Georgia’s DECA Region 8A competition Jan. 21. Those 32 students qualified for the state competition in March, when they will bring their projects against more than 2,000 other Georgia DECA students.

DECA is a marketing and business club that has chapters in high schools and colleges throughout the world. South’s team typically fares well in competitions.

The regional competition consisted of events where individual students were presented with a business situation and a marketing issue in a short case study, according to Seth Hutchinson, a marketing teacher and DECA adviser at South.

After 10 minutes of brainstorming, the students had to present and justify a solution in a role-play scenario with a judge. Students also competed in speech and mock job interview events.

“I love the combination of solutions to real marketing problems, creativity, self-motivation and presentation skills that we teach,” Hutchinson said. “… And our competition wins show that our students are applying their education beyond the classroom.”

He added that students in the club are “very proud of their success in both the classroom and in their competitive events.”

Will Bradley, a South sophomore who finished first in his event, said participating in a role play “by preparing a solution to a real-world problem in just 10 minutes is a challenging and intense experience, but simultaneously very rewarding.”

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to expand my marketing education through competitions like these,’ he said.