Jordan Robinson, Texas DECA President

Jordan Robinson is thrilled to serve as your 2011-2012 Texas DECA State President.  As a student at Ben Barber CTA in Mansfield, Texas, Jordan plans on attending college at Texas Tech to pursue a dual degree in Civil Engineering and Architecture Sciences.  He plans to eventually to use his experiences in DECA to help him start up his own business.

Jordan’s experience in DECA began during his sophomore year of high school when he was “randomly” placed in an internet marketing class. While in that class, he was introduced to DECA and immediately was inspired to find success.  He went on to win second place in his event at the state conference and earned a spot in the Leadership Development Academy at the International Career Development Conference.  Through his hard work, he eventually became his chapter’s Vice President of Community Service.  While serving in these roles, he began to embrace the importance of servant leadership – leading by serving others.  It was this idea that inspired him to run for State President.

Jordan believes that as State President that it isn’t enough to call yourself by your title – instead, he believes that leadership is about helping others to realize that they too are strong leaders, and that they have an important role to play in their DECA chapters as well as in their communities.  Jordan believes that to be successful, everyone should challenge themselves to take on leadership roles on behalf of others.

Barbara Ding, Texas DECA Vice President

Barbara Ding is truly honored to have the chance to serve as your 2011-2012 Texas State Vice President. Barbara attends Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio, Texas where she is a third-year member of DECA. She began her DECA involvement during her freshman year while living in California.  She was first inspired by the spirit and countless opportunities offered by DECA when she competed at the 2010 California DECA State Career Development Conference. Since that moment, DECA has enabled her to work toward her goal of becoming an international businesswoman.  When she moved to San Antonio, she was elected Vice President of District 2 before having the privilege to serve as the State Vice President.

Barbara was born in Montreal, Quebec before moving to California and Texas.  She has enjoyed playing field hockey and participating in the swim team while in high school.  In addition, when she moved to Texas, she began playing golf for the first time and is now on the varsity golf team.  She is a third year member of Key Club, a second year member of the International Club and the Vice President of National Chinese Honor Society. On Sundays, she volunteers at her church by leading an arts and crafts class. She loves teaching young children to draw and to make various crafts.

Kyle Paris, Texas DECA Sergeant-at-Arms

Kyle Paris is excited to serve as the 2011-2012 Texas DECA Sergeant-at-Arms.  Although he was just a first year DECA member when he was elected, Kyle has worked hard to accomplish a great deal of things in a short amount of time.

Kyle is a graduate Richland High School in Fort Worth, Texas where he also represented the Birdville Center of Technology and Advanced Learning.  He worked as a manager of both the student bistro and student store where he helped serve handmade meals created by students interested in careers in the culinary arts.  Kyle was proud that while serving as a manager, both the bistro and store were very profitable due to their focus on excellent customer service. This year, Kyle will attend the Conrad Hilton School of Hospitality at the University of Houston while majoring in Restaurant Management.  His ultimate goal is to create a new restaurant that uses cutting edge technology to create advanced meals for patrons.

Before being elected as Sergeant-At-Arms, Kyle also served as the vice president of his DECA chapter. Now that he is on the State Officer Team, he is thrilled to be part of a highly motivated group that is focused on making Texas DECA bigger and better. He promises to work hard and contribute as much as he can while taking on any challenge that comes his way.

Nicole Zajimovic, Secretary

Nicole Zajimovic, Texas DECA SecretaryNicole Zajimovic is delighted to serve as your 2011-2012 Texas DECA State Secretary. As a fourth-year DECA member, she attends Richland High School in North Richland Hills, Texas. Nicole plans to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point where she will major in International Relations. Upon graduation, she plans to serve as a Second Lieutenant in the Military Intelligence branch of the US Army.

Nicole joined many organizations her freshman year, DECA being one of them, because she was looking to get as involved as possible. DECA is one of the organizations that she has continued to be a part of for four years because of the beneficial skills she’s gained from the competitions, campaigns, and community service events her chapter has been involved in. Nicole has seen her confidence grow over the years she’s been involved in DECA, along with her knowledge of the business world, leadership abilities, and love for service.

She competed in the Texas DECA State Career Development Conference her sophomore and junior year, and her dedication to the organization resulted in her becoming the Vice President of her school’s chapter and eventually the Texas DECA State Secretary.
Nicole was born in Mainz, Germany but came to Texas as fast as she could! She is the captain of her high school varsity volleyball team and also participates in track and field. Alongside DECA, Nicole is involved in Student Council, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, National Honor Society, German Club, Teen Court, and is the chairman of her city’s Youth Advisory Committee.

Nicole is looking forward to a wonderful year with her fellow State Officer team and cooperation with Texas District officers to make Texas DECA bigger and better! Please feel free to email her with any questions at nicole.zajimovic.txdeca@gmail.com.

Lyndy Watkins, Reporter

Lyndy Watkins is truly excited to serve as your 2011-2012 Texas DECA State Reporter. He is a student at Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas and plans on attending Business Honors at the University of Texas in Austin.

Lyndy has been a member of DECA since his freshman year of high school when his marketing teacher approached him and asked if he would like to compete. That same year he made it to the International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California in the Retail Marketing Research Event. As a sophomore, due to his strong leadership skills, he was elected to be his chapter’s Treasurer. Later that year he took advantage of a great opportunity and attended the Leadership Development Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. His junior year, whilst competing in the Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research Event, he made it once again to the international competition in Orlando, Florida. That same year he was elected to be his chapter’s Vice President and earned his school’s Marketing Student of the Year award. Over the past few years, through being involved in DECA, Lyndy has grown his leadership abilities, his knowledge of how the business world operates, and his love for working with amazing people.

This year, as a senior, he was given the amazing opportunity to be a state officer in Texas DECA. Lyndy hopes to promote Texas DECA to “Aspire Higher” and to succeed in competition. He is extremely happy to have a wonderful state officer team to work with and plans on making this year the best one that Texas DECA has ever seen.

Please feel free to contact Lyndy at lyndy.watkins.txdeca@gmail.com with any questions or ideas.