Photo courtesy of Claire Ngyuen
 
Thirteen DECA members qualified for DECA’s International Career Development Conference through the New Jersey state conference in Cherry Hill. The state conference lasted for three days, from Feb. 25-27. To qualify for the International Career Development Conference, a competitor or team must have finished in the top three in their event. Senior Claire Ngyuen and the team of seniors Arielle Marguiles and Maddie McNichol came in first place in their events, Appeal and Accessories Marketing and the Community Service Project respectively. “I was really surprised but excited when they called my name for first place on stage. I wasn’t expecting it at all since this is my first year in DECA; the other competitors were pretty intimidating but I went in hoping to have fun and see how well I could do,” said Ngyuen.
Junior Madison Banker and sophomore Max Mazursky both qualified in two events. Mazursky placed in third in Marketing Management and third in the Learn and Earn Project with sophomore Robbie Viglione and Banker placed third in Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling and and third in the Entrepreneurship Promotion Project with junior Sarah Barash. In other events, senior Alyssa Gardner finished second in Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling; juniors Katherine Seeney and Samantha Broders came in third in the Financial Literacy Promotion Plan; freshman Niva Patel finished in Principles of Hospitality; freshman Karl Wirth finished second in Principles of Finance; and sophomore Peter Yarem finished in third in Quick Serve Restaurant Management.
The International Career Development Conference will take place in Orlando from April 25-28. “I am so excited to attend Nationals because it’s being held in Orlando this year! In between competitions, we’ll be able to go visit the Disney and Universal parks. Going to Nationals was a goal all along, so I’m really glad that I managed to qualify,” said Ngyuen.
 
Results will be posted on thefanscotian.com following the competition.