WESTBROOK – Kyleigh Caston, a 17-year-old junior at Westbrook Regional Vocational Center, doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up, but she is preparing for the unknown now.

“I don’t know what I’ll do after I graduate, but I’ll have experience,” she said.

Caston, a marketing student at the vocational school, will get lots of that experience later this month when she participates in the DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, Calif., along with 14,000 other marketing, finance, hospitality and business management students from high schools all over the world.

The April 24-27 conference includes a competitive evaluation process that involves both written components, like exams or reports, and interactive components, such as answering questions and solving hypothetical problem situations, which are judged by an industry professional. The competition aims to test students’ skills and knowledge in their fields and to make them college and career ready when they graduate.

Students will get a chance to compete against international students from countries such as Korea and Mexico, or take part in educational classes such as senior management and school-based enterprise.

Three other Westbrook students at the vocational center – Paige Turcotte, Danielle Williams and Selena Massie, all juniors – will also join Caston when she heads to Anaheim. While there, Caston won’t compete, but she will take part in the leadership program that focuses on perfecting public speaking, teamwork and problem-solving skills.

“Maine’s not that big of a state. All the huge states are really into it and practice all year. We’ve only been practicing for the conference for two to three months,” she said.

Caston did compete during the DECA state competition last month, in the category of restaurant management. She won second place by answering questions about how to handle different work situations, such as if illegal immigrants were working in her store. Caston and Turcotte both work at Dairy Queen in Westbrook, so they have plenty of experience behind the cash register.

“She’s a really good kid and a great worker,” said Robert Patten, owner of the Dairy Queen. “They both work for me and you really can’t say a bad thing about them.”

Caston’s experience comes in handy for her when she works at the Westbrook High School store selling T-shirts she printed in her marketing classes and overseeing the less-experienced students operate the register.

“My freshman year we took a tour of the vocational school and I saw the screen printing machine in the one classroom. It seemed like so much fun,” she said.

Two years later, Caston designs and prints T-shirts that are sold in the store.

The four students have spent the last month raising money for the trip by asking for donations and holding fundraisers like bake sales, including one last Saturday at the Shaw’s supermarket in Westbrook. Caston said she’s very close to paying for her trip, especially after Idexx Laboratories contributed $2,500 to help fund the trip. Caston said they will also hold a yard sale when they get back to cover any remaining cost.

“I’ve never been to California, but I’m very excited. I hear from another girl who went before that you meet so many people. And we get to go sightseeing,” Caston said.

The students are staying until April 29. When they’re not busy taking in the Golden State, they will be intermingling with 14,000 high school students, advisers, businesspersons and alumni. In addition to the competitive events, many students and advisers participate in a variety of leadership and career advancing academies.

Students from Westbrook have competed at the DECA national competition in the past, but did not go last year due to a lack of funding.

Four students at Westbrook Regional Vocational Technical Center are raising money to help pay their way to the national DECA conference in Anaheim, Calif., at the end of April. The Westbrook students, from left, Kyleigh Caston, Paige Turcotte, Danielle Williams and Selena Massie, all juniors, bundled up last Saturday for a bake sale outside the Shaw’s supermarket in Westbrook. Photo by Rich Obrey