Kate Falkenstien

Free State High School junior Kate Falkenstien excels when she’s in front of an audience.

But when she was announced as a first-place winner in front of 13,000 students at an international conference last week in Florida, she was stunned.

She brought home a trophy and $1,000 for beating 299 students in the retail marketing category of the International Career Development Conference. The conference was in conjunction with Distributive Education Clubs of America, a student organization that focuses on marketing, management and entrepreneurship.

In March, she and three other Free State students placed high at a state competition in Overland Park, where they qualified for the international competition at the Orlando Convention Center.

Falkenstien’s competition involved a 100-question multiple-choice test about operating a retail store and role playing. DECA adviser Phil Roth said 20 finalists are given 15 minutes to study a scenario and then have 10 minutes to act it out in front of a judge.

Falkenstien has no problem convincing others she’s confident in what she’s saying and doing because she’s been doing it for three years in debate and forensics.

“I think a lot of it is about people being able to be comfortable speaking and coming up with logical answers and sounding like you know with confidence even if you don’t,” she said.

Roth wasn’t surprised she won.

“She does great at everything that she attempts,” he said.

Last year, Falkenstien placed in the top 10 in the same category. Roth doesn’t doubt she could defend her title, but he may push her to try something different next year, he said.

Falkenstien said she plans to study political science or law in college. She said she’s interested in communications because it is the common thread among DECA, debate and forensics.

Classmate Mitch Moore, a Free State junior, was awarded a “Top 30 percent” certificate for his 10-page promotional plan for a retail store. Roth said he wrote the paper for the state competition where he placed first.

“The kids I took really represented themselves well, represented Free State and Lawrence well in their behavior and the way they took care of business,” Roth said. “That’s just as important to me as winning the competition.”

– Kansas University intern Erin Castaneda can be reached at 832-7261.