QUINCY - Quincy High School senior Robin Thaemert spent a year recording the activities of the school's DECA chapter, and it earned her third place in the organization's international competition.

"It (the scrapbook) is everything about our chapter for a whole year," Thaemert said. She started working on it last spring and recorded activities through February, she said.

The project looked attractive, back last spring, because it was a good way to get to the international convention, Robin said, and club advisor Nicole Monroe encouraged her. But it turns out that Quincy's DECA club has a lot of activities and community projects, from a scavenger hunt for donations at Thanksgiving to the annual DECA week that involves the whole school. "It's crazy, how much stuff we do," Thaemert said.

As a result the project required some crazy hours, so many that Robin lost count. "I know I put in well over 100 (hours), but I don't know how many more. I don't even know if I can count that high."

It was a lot of work, and there were times when pasting pictures and writing narratives got a little old, but she got used to it, Robin said. And in the end it was worth it. "I like projects like that - I think they're fun. I didn't know how much time it would take, but I had fun doing it," she said.

When it was done, all 82 pages, Thaemert submitted it for judging. "Before state, you send it in the mail, and then at state you do a presentation," she said. Winners at the state level advance to national and international competition.

Not that she expected to win - after all, there are schools that include DECA records preparation as part of a class. "I just did it by myself, at my own house," she said.

She fulfilled her goal of attending the international convention, held in Salt Lake City. She was notified earlier this spring that she had placed third out of about 70 projects.

"It's a good way to end my senior year," Robin said.

Thaemert said she plans to attend Eastern Washington University next year, with the intention of applying to the dental hygienist program.