DECA Marketing students from Benton, Central, and Lafayette joined more than 2,000 high school marketing students and their teachers who gathered March 13-15th, 2022 for the 74th annual Missouri DECA State Career Development Conference at Crown Center. This conference was sponsored by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
DECA is an international association of high school students studying marketing, finance, hospitality and management. Missouri DECA has more than 7,900 members with 150 chapters across the state.
During the statewide conference DECA members were evaluated by more than 150 business and industry professionals who served as competitive event judges. Students who participated in the competition solved realistic workplace problems through one-on-one interaction with an executive or community member.
Students participated in individual or team events, business operations research projects, and entrepreneurship projects. Event criteria were aligned with national curriculum standards.
Benton High School results are as follows:
5th Place: Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series- Taten Piepergerdes
Taten Piepergerdes will be representing Benton High School and Missouri at the International DECA competition in Atlanta, GA, in late April.
Also competing at the conference were Benton students, Rylan Piepergerdes, Sutton Redemer, Chris Coy, Nathaniel Geiler, Maylee Shifflett, Adleigh Strong, Danielle Baig, Seanna Campbell, and Lauren Searcy.
Benton High School DECA sponsor is Mr. Joey Hendrix.
Central High School results are as follows:
Medalist: Quick Serve Restaurant Management Series- Trey Smith
Medalist: Sports & Entertainment Marketing- Matthew Byrd
Medalist: Travel & Tourism Marketing Team Decision Making- Imrit Athwal & Colton Claycamp
4th Place: Project Management Career Development
3rd Place: Business Law & Ethics Team Decision Making- Ella Habiger & Katie Kissock
2nd Place: Start-Up Business Plan- TJ Larson & Sam Carillo
Ashlin McCamy, Abigail Dorsey, Matthew Byrd, Emma Habiger, and Katie Kissock will be representing Central High School and Missouri at the International DECA competition in Atlanta, GA, in late April.
Also competing at the conference were Central students, Delaney Macrander, Anthony Johnson, Vincent Nguyen, Danion Mauzer, Blake Smith, Dajza Marte, Savannah Mort, Harjas Athwal, Kinlee Jones, Lilly Taube, Trey Main, Aebra Parker, Gracie Cable, and Gracie Messinger.
Central High School DECA sponsors are Mrs. Melissa Richie and Mr. Nicholas Stegmann.
Lafayette High School results are as follows:
Leadership Delegate- Erinn Lotspeich
6th Place: Hospitality Travel and Tourism Management Team- Brooklyn Lorenz and Jaylee Steele
Erinn Lotspeich, Brooklyn Lorenz, and Jaylee Steele will be representing Lafayette High School and Missouri at the International DECA competition in Atlanta, GA, in late April.
Competing at the conference were Lafayette students, Remington Vandever, Ellie Wattenbarger, Makenzie Leake, Carter Hewitt, Drake Losson, Amaya Markt, Stella Neri, Bailey Flannagan, Mallory Morgan, Molly Kretzer, Rayna Chilcoat, Talicia Byrd, Melena Barbosa, Addie Gemmel, Katie Koelzer, Quentin Garrett, Kaliana Ginn, Celia-Jean Kaahea, Alliana Mace, Jacob McQuiston, Gracie Thomas, Paris Whitmill, and Katelyn Wright.
Lafayette High School DECA sponsors are Mrs. Theresa Paolillo and Mrs. Hilary Salanky.