PARIS – Nearly two dozen Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School students will be in Orlando, Fla., next month, but they won’t be there for the traditional “spring break” parties.

The students will compete with 14,000 other students from around the world at the International Career Development Conference. They earned the right to attend the conference after placing first or second at the State Conference in South Portland several weeks ago.

“Twenty-eight qualified and 19 said they were going,” said Patricia Pelletier, marketing education teacher in the OHCHS DECA program for the students who qualified to go to the international conference from April 27 to May 2.

Students who attended the two-day state competition, where they were named DECA Chapter of the Year, say they were put through a tough competition including written tests and role playing. The competition was both on an individual and team level.

“We had to answer a 100-question test,” said OHCHS DECA President Allison Fox of one competition event.

The competition was planned and hosted by OHCHS students and state officers Kari Pelletier, Justin Frechette, Teira Durgin and Ashley Chaplin. The students from OHCHS competed against students from other DECA chapters, including Portland, Brunswick and Lewiston.

While the upcoming trip to Florida is exciting, the group must raise about $16,000 more to pay for the $950 cost per student, Pelletier said.

To meet their financial needs, class members are busy with fundraising efforts, including running the largest crafts fair in western Maine for the past 32 years.

“We made over $10,000,” said DECA student Staci Cushman of the craft fair the students organized this year that brought in about 3,000 people to help raise funds for DECA projects.

The group recently held two “Miracle Minute” fundraisers at the girls and boys varsity basketball games and a raffle in conjunction with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine. Club officers also helped the Chamber of Commerce with its annual dinner. Preparations are now being made for a murder/mystery production.

“We always have a number of projects going on,” Pelletier said.

The class is looking for sponsors to send the students to the national competition. Checks may be written to DECA, Oxford Hills Technical School, P.O. Box 313, Norway, ME 04268. Donations can also be made by sponsoring a job for a student. More information can be obtained by calling 207-743-7756, ext. 5100.

DECA is a co-curricular international student-centered organization specifically designed to provide activities that motivate students to learn marketing, management and entrepreneurial competencies that will prepare them to work in the field of marketing.

DECA has been operating worldwide for more than 55 years. DECA chartered the State DECA Association in Maine in 1967. Although members say they can’t remember when the DECA program started at the local high school, it has been here at least 32 many years, they said.