Senior Sidney Albritton has reached great heights during his time as a student at Picayune Memorial High School’s Career and Technology Center.

Albritton said he owes much of his high school success to his active participation in his school’s DECA program.

DECA prepares high school and college students for careers in marketing, finance, management and hospitality, according to DECA.org.

“I joined DECA last year to get experience with business,” Albritton said. “I had a fear of public speaking, so I thought the more I did it, the better I would become.”

Since then, Albritton has received accolades for his work in DECA.

Last year, he placed second at the 2014 DECA district competition for business law and ethics, placed fifth at state competition and went on to compete at nationals. Albritton also served on the Mississippi DECA State Action Team as vice president.

“When I ran and gave a speech for the officer position at DECA’s state conference, it was probably one of the scariest moments in my life,”Albritton said. “But it was worth it.”

He also said his team went on to amend the state of Mississippi’s DECA constitution, which broadened membership eligibility.

“I am proud to have served with such a great team and I believe Mississippi DECA will grow for years to come,” he said.

Recently, Albritton competed at DECA’s Career Development Conference and took home first place in the human resources management category.

To add to his resume, Albritton was selected as the 2014-2015 Outstanding DECA State Officer in Mississippi, was awarded a scholarship by the Mississippi Association of Marketing Educators and was one of the state’s top performers for DECA’s Virtual Business Challenge.

In April, he will represent the state of Mississippi for the second year in a row at the International Career Development Conference held in Orlando, Fla.

“I’m looking forward to the conference,” he said. “It’s a tough competition, but getting the opportunity to experience it is worth it.”

Albritton attributes a lot of his success to his DECA advisor Chira Slone.

“I couldn’t have been a state officer without her,” he said. “I owe a lot of my success to her.”

Slone said she loves to support all of her DECA students.

“I go from a proud teacher to a proud parent when my students succeed,” Slone said. “Especially when you’ve invested so much time with them, it almost seems like they’re yours.”

Albritton graduates in May and plans to attend college to study public policy and political science.

“I want to go to law school and become a lawyer,” he said.