MIHS business students earn state honors

Many advanced to the international competition.

March 24, 2019 1:30 am
Mercer Island High School DECA students have earned a trip to the international conference in Orlando. Photo courtesy of Craig Degginger/Mercer Island School District
Mercer Island High School DECA students have earned a trip to the international conference in Orlando. Photo courtesy of Craig Degginger/Mercer Island School District

Mercer Island High School DECA sent its team of 92 students, who had qualified in area competition in January, to the state competition on March 1 at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. The team of business and marketing students performed well in a field of qualified students from across the state.

DECA is a Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) for business and marketing students. With an overall chapter membership of 207 students, MIHS is the fifth largest in the state.

MIHS had 27 students called to stage for the awards portion of state DECA, with either a recognition in an aspect of their event (the test or role play) or as a placement in the event.

Students who placed are now qualified to attend the International DECA event in Orlando, Fla., at the end of April.

Accomplishments:

Elena Briggs placed first in Personal Financial Literacy. Paul Noone came in sixth in Principles of Business Administration. Jack Dilworth was seventh in Principles of Finance.

In Accounting, Francesco Risco was third and Mari Nielson came in sixth place and Lucas Mar also qualified. Beatrice Lee qualified in Food Marketing.

Michaela Geisner placed eighth in Business Services. Nikeeta Nareem earned 10th place in the Automotive category, and Declan Chapin placed 10th in Entrepreneurship.

In Human Resources, Liela Schoff was sixth and Tara Manhas was seventh.

Annika Vanderspek qualified in the Marketing Communications category, as did Kevin Bacon in Quick Serve Restaurant.

Caitlyn Liang placed sixth in Restaurant and Food Service, and Joseph Gallagher also qualified.

In Retail Merchandising, Amanda Wion was fourth and Amanda Weaver was sixth.

There was also a team competition, in which Stewart Vassau and Gretchen Blohm placed eighth in Entrepreneurship, Lauren Pirak and Mackenzie Magnussen were ninth in Financial (Cole Miller and Jack Clayville also qualified), Connor Grady and James Watson were eighth in Marketing Management and Noah Hendelman and Munisip Eratkus qualified in Travel and Tourism.

Jada Merritt and Quynh-Mai Nguyen earned sixth place for their Creative Marketing Project, Amanda Wion and Eliana Nomicos earned 10th for their Community Service Project and Nathan Sims was eighth for Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research.

In addition, MIHS congratulates Emily Rowe on her year serving as the Area 3 DECA State vice-president. She represented school districts from Duvall to Mercer Island.