23 students from Mounds View participated in the annual Minnesota DECA District 4 Career Development Conference in Blaine, January 28, 2018. 200 students from Mounds View, Irondale, Forest Lake, Fridley, Spring Lake Park, Totino Grace, North Branch, and Chisago Lakes competed in over 50 events, focused in the areas of entrepreneurship, finance, hospitality, marketing and other related fields. The competitions are designed to simulate real-life business scenarios and test students’ academic understanding and skills development. District winners put their talents to the test during the State Career Development Conference in Minneapolis and upon qualifying further, at the National Conference in Atlanta,Georgia.

Congratulations to the students that represented MV DECA and competed this recently: Analycia Willier-O’Connor (10), Josiah Wiest(10), Hufsa Ahmed (10),  Zain Abdullah (10), Connor Petrich (11), Ian Boyles (11), Chihiro Gustafson (11), Bailey Loge (10), Jessica Hegele (11), Benjamin Gardner (11), Justin Reiling (11), Alisa Samadani (12), Winston Hills (12), joshua Bonde (12), Oliver Swingen (12), Levi Scott (12), Jared Herbert (12), Aman Rao (12), Nick Kottke (12), Chaz Nelson (12), Lauren Janke (12), Amy Helgeson (12), Deepta Jashti (10).

The following students placed in the top 4, qualifying to the State Competition in Minneapolis:

• Nicholas Kottke (Team Travel and Tourism Role Play) - Levi Scott will be competing in his place due to scheduling conflict
• Analycia (Lily) Willier-O’Connell (Sale Demonstration General Lines)
• Amy Helgeson (Apparel and Accessories Marketing Role Play, Startup Business Plan, Entrepreneurship Chapter Project)
• Deepta Jashti (Principles of Hospitality and Tourism Role Play)
• Ian Boyles (Apparel and Accessories Marketing Role Play)
• Chihiro Gustafson (Sales Demonstration Hard Lines, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism Role Play, Hospitality Professional Sales Consultation)
• Benjamin Gardner (Sales Demonstration Soft Lines, Personal Financial Literacy Role Play, Financial Professional Sales Consultation)
• Aman Rao (Team Travel and Tourism Role Play, Financial Professional Sales Consultation)
• Justin Reiling (Sales Demonstration Hard Lines, Retail Merchandising Role Play, Hospitality Professional Sales Consultation, Small Business Enterprise)
• Chaz Nelson (Sales Demonstration Hard Lines, Team Sports and Entertainment Marketing Role Play)
• Jared Herbert (Team Sports and Entertainment Marketing Role Play)
• Alisa Samadani (Human Resources Management Role Play, Small Business Enterprise)
• Hufsa Ahmed (Hotel Lodging Role Play, Professional Sales Consultation, Small Business Enterprise)

ABOUT MINNESOTA DECA:

DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. DECA enhances the preparation for college and careers by providing co-curricular programs that integrate into classroom instruction, apply learning, connect to business and promote competition. The Minnesota High School Association is part of a larger organization comprised of over 215,000 members from all 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Canada, China, Germany, Guam, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain. For more information about DECA, please visit www.deca.org.