Brad Stubbs began thinking about holding a state DECA office as soon as he got involved with DECA his junior year at Lima Senior High School.
Now a senior, he has made it happen.
“I felt like I had leadership potential,” he said. “I felt like if I could share that with others it would be a good way to improve DECA for the better.”
Brad, the son of Mark and Jill Stubbs, was recently elected vice president of Leadership Development at the Ohio DECA Fall Leadership Conference. Brad is one of seven students in the state to hold a state leadership position. He replaces 2014 LSH graduate Aaron Reed, who held the same position last year.
Brad ran for the position against three others. His campaign included a speech to voting delegates. His first duty as vice president of leadership development will be to soon represent the state at a conference with national officers.
“My job this year will be to create activities to increase DECA membership and to increase the skills of current members,” he said.
He will assist at district and state competitions, where he will also compete. Brad made it to the international contest last year, finishing in the top 82nd percentile.
“I would love to go back and bring home one of the top three trophies,” he said. “It might seem impossible, but it has been done before at Lima Senior.”
At Lima Senior, Stubbs is in the Masterworks Ensemble, Scarlet and Grey Show Choir and other smaller ensembles. He plays the base drum in the marching band, where he is section leader, and plays the cello in the orchestra.
With a 3.53 grade-point average, he is in the National Honors Society and is captain of the Quiz Bowl team. He serves as state associate justice in the Youth in Government Program. Brad is also on the Spartan swim team and has been in school and community theater productions.
Brad is able to manage all he has going on by being organized. He says he also finds time for stress-relieving activities like swimming and writing.
Brad gives much credit to Lima Senior and the Lima City Schools, saying he knows he would have never had the opportunities he’s had here anywhere else.
“You do not get the holistic education anywhere else that you do at Lima Senior,” he said. “And the staff at Lima Senior is second to none.”
Brad hopes to study industrial and labor relations next year at Cornell University. He then wants to go to law school and eventually practice employment and labor law.