Blacksburg High School DECA members represented the New River Valley well at their recent State Leadership Conference in Virginia Beach, VA by having 21 International Career Development Conference (ICDC) qualifiers; and two Virginia State officers. During the school year around 120,000 DECA members compete locally and statewide in entrepreneurship, marketing management, hospitality and finance to earn a spot at the national competition.
The BHS DECA students will be traveling to ICDC in Orlando, Florida from April 26th to May 1st to compete in various marketing categories and attend leadership/chapter management academies. To attend the conference, each student is challenged to raise $1625. The students will be competing in the following categories:
ASPIRE Senior Management – Sarah Boyle, Henry Brunsma, Dawson Racek, Charlsie Key
Business Finance Series – James Cowan
Financial Consulting – Anna Kender
Hospitality Services Management Team Decision Making- Georgia-Kathryn Duncan and Anna Claire Sullivan
Innovation Plan – Brandon Fan and Howard Shi
Principles of Marketing – Aidan Berger
Quick Serve Restaurant Management – Paul Duncan
School Based Enterprise Team – Ryan Castle, Josh Gholston, and Tate Pospichal
Sports & Entertainment Marketing Series – Brooke Anderson
Sports & Entertainment Marketing Management Team Decision Making- Robert Cowan and Carter Hill
THRIVE Academy – Trinity Hawley, Jessica Saville-Brown, and Caleb Townsend
Virginia State Officers – Charlsie Key and Howard Shi
Voting Delegate – Henry Brunsma and Dawson Racek
DECA Advisor Kim Radford states: “In the past many community businesses have generously donated to the success of BHS DECA. This year, with the strong number of students from Blacksburg who have qualified to compete at nationals, we will really need community support.” To help defray these costs, community sponsorships are being accepted. Contributions levels are bronze for $100 or less; silver for $150 – $199; gold for $200-299; and platinum for $300+.
Sponsors will be recognized via press release when the students return from competition at the end of April. Checks can be made payable to: BHS DECA, c/o Kim Radford, Advisor, 3401 Bruin Lane, Blacksburg, VA 24060. DECA is a co-curricular marketing organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.
Submitted By: Aidan Berger, Trinity Hawley, and Jessica Saville-Brown, BHS DECA
