Students from Grand Island departed on Wednesday, March 9, to compete at the New York State DECA Conference in Rochester on March 9, 10, and 11.
DECA is a worldwide business club, with a chapter in the Grand Island Central School District, that prepares high school and college students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management.
The students will return at the end of the school day on March 11 after the three-day conference and business and marketing competition. Top performers at states can go on to DECA nationals.
Students qualified to compete at the state level at DECA regionals, which were held at Grand Island High School on Dec. 12. There were 300 students from 12 schools competing that day.
At regionals, GICSD students who qualified for DECA states were: Alma Brown, Andrew Burke, Natalie Carter, Nathaniel Cohen, Natalyn Cordero, Samantha Ennis, Logan Fox, Hannah Higuera, Justin Horvath, Eden Johnson, Morgan Khadra, Raven Khreis, Natalie Kopf, Bethany Kulikowski, Anna Kurtzhalts, Megan Lavis, Hollyn Lynch, Sydney Martin, Natalle Martineck, Olivia Mayer, Riley Patterson, Megan Pinzel, Lorelei Popp, Matthew Rizzo, Ella Rudney, Shaan Sandhu, Jacob Schiesser, Adam Schnell, Pearl Sciolino-Coffey, Sophia Sobrino, Hannah Susman, Casey Walowitz, Evan Walowitz, Riley Weber, Patrick Whalen, Ta'miah Wilkes, Max Zentz (from Connor Middle School).
Students and the competition events in which they will compete at DECA states:
Principles of Business Management and Administration: Adam Schnell
Principles of Hospitality and Tourism: Max Zentz
Principles of Marketing: Ta'miah Wilkes, Lorelei Popp
Accounting Applications: Natalie Carter
Business Services Marketing: Riley Weber
Entrepreneurship Series: Anna Kurtzhalts, Casey Walowitz
Food Marketing: Morgan Khadra, Natalie Kopf
Human Resources Management: Shaan Sandhu
Retail Merchandising: Pearl Sciolino-Coffey
Sports and Entertainment Marketing: Sydney Martin
Buying and Merchandising: Logan Fox and Jacob Schiesser; Alma Brown and Samantha Ennis
Entrepreneurship Team: Hannah Higuera and Hollyn Lynch; Raven Khreis and Olivia Mayer
Hospitality Services: Megan Pinzel and Ella Rudney
Marketing Management: Matthew Rizzo and Patrick Whalen
Sports and Entertainment Marketing: Justin Horvath and Evan Walowitz
Some students qualified with a direct entry to the DECA state conference. They are Natalle Martineck and Hannah Susman for their Business Solutions Project; Eden Johnson, Natalyn Cordero, and Andrew Burke for their Career Development Project; Megan Lavis, Bethany Kulikowski, and Riley Patterson for their Community Giving Project.
