Seventeen students from Rockville Centre have earned spots at the DECA International Career Development Conference at the end of the month in Orlando, Florida after outstanding performances at the recent state competition.
DECA, which stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America, is a global organization with over 200,000 members dedicated to preparing emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. Their goal is to “prepare the next generation to be academically prepared, community-driven, and professionally experienced in order to lead the world well,” according to the website.
Peter English, a business department instructor at South Side High School, has played a pivotal role in the school’s DECA program since he started teaching there nine years ago. After several years of involvement with DECA at his previous school in New Jersey, English revitalized the DECA Club at South Side High, turning it into the school’s largest club with over 130 members. These students compete in various business challenges that test their understanding of business concepts and creativity.
This year, 58 students from South Side High School’s International Baccalaureate Business Management program qualified for the New York State Career Development Conference in Rochester, held from March 5 to 7.
The three-day competition saw thousands of students from schools across the state competing in business-related role-playing scenarios and case study events. Events included presentations and project management tasks, many of which involved working in and around the local community.
South Side students work on their projects for months in preparation. They develop and execute their plans based on what they learned in class.
The competition began with a 100-question multiple-choice career cluster exam, followed by scenario-based challenges where students had 10 minutes to respond and 10 minutes to present their solutions to a judge. Judging criteria included creativity, use of business terminology, content knowledge and public speaking skills.
The 17 students who have qualified for the ICDC, taking place from April 26 to 29, are: Ella Burbige, Nicole Carlin, Liam Conlon, Abigail Cox, Patrick Curran, Alexandra Fried, Amaia Kurko, Danielle Lu, Makayla McNeill, Angelica Meyer, Declan O’Toole, Lukas Papadopoulos, Liam Pfaff, Genevieve Reilly, Kayla Rosales, Molly Schieck and Brooke Seidman.
Over 23,000 DECA members from across the country will compete at the ICDC in the hopes of being crowned international champions, according to the website.
For more information about DECA Inc. and its offerings, visit DECA.org.
