The Wenatchee High School DECA program raised nearly $5,000 at its annual fundraiser dance in the Wenatchee High School gym on May 16. This years ticket sales and attendance tripled that of last years, making it the the most prosperous DECA fundraiser yet.

“This is only our second year doing this fundraiser, and it was extremely successful,” DECA Adviser Matt Pakinas said. “Around 625 people attended the dance, tripling ticket sales and the attendance rates of last year. [The funds] will help to send students to conferences. It’s what all the money will go to [for conferences] such as the International conference, the Area 10 competition, and the State and Career competition which is State.”

This year’s theme — Frozen — was complete with decorations, a fake snow machine, carnival games, a bouncy house, and topped off with the showing of Frozen, the movie. The dance was open to anybody but was primarily attended by elementary school students and their families.

DECA students worked for three weeks prior to the dance to prepare for the raffles and silent auction, with items that were provided by the many DECA sponsors. They were also busy gathering decorations and putting together carnival games, such as pin the nose on Olaf.

“The time we put in was pretty insane to make the dance happen, but it was worth it. We made close to $1,000 on just the raffle items alone and around the same for the silent auction items. Our carnival games were a hit as well,” junior DECA student Alex Haugan said.

With the DECA program expected to grow next year, the money raised will be extremely helpful in offsetting the costs of necessities of the program.

“At the Area level this year we had around 80-90 students competing, and from Wenatchee 50-60 students were sent to state this year. Next year we are expecting significantly more,” junior DECA student Edan Patterson said.