Students shine at DECA competition

Twenty-eight headed to state event

Mentor High School hosted over 400 Northeast Ohio student competitors at the DECA regional competition in late January, and the hosts more than held their own.

A total of 28 Marketing and Business Administration students from Mentor qualified for the upcoming state competition set for March 10-11 at the DECA Career Development Conference. That number represents a 33 percent increase from the previous year.

Marketing and Business Administration students participate in DECA, which prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe, according to Mentor CTE Director Joseph Glavan.

“We are excited to congratulate our 28 students who qualified to the state DECA competition,” Glavan said. “I would also like congratulate our MBA instructors, Drew McKnight and Lauren Tousignant, for organizing and running the district competition at Paradigm and for preparing their students for success.”

Other participants at the regional competition included students from Auburn Career Center, Bedford High School, Cleveland Heights High School, Lorain County Joint Vocational School, Maple Heights High School, Parma High School, Strongsville High School and the Willoughby-Eastlake School District.

The list of state qualifiers for Mentor:

Accounting Applications Series — second place: Nick Seifert; third place: Max Fredeen.

Business Finance Series — first place: Jonathan

Magerko; second place: Braedon Caldwell; third place: Janiya Marsh.

Business Service Marketing — second place: Zach Rafalke.

Buying and Merchandising Team — first place: Katie Klepcyk and Brandon Valeri.

Entrepreneurship Series — first place: Leah Kilpatrick-White; third place: Sanaya Howard.

Food Marketing Series — second place: Grace Anzlovar.

Hotel and Lodging Management Series — third place: Kenice Akakuru.

Human Resource Management — second place: Caden Cofield; Third Place: Elise Patti.

Marketing Communication Series — second place: Evelyn Megery.

Principles of Business Management and Administration — second place: Michael Waters; third place: Robert Pruitt.

Principles of Hospitality and Tourism — first place: Payson Chapman; second place: Angela DeMaria; third place: Tyler Spackman.

Principles of Marketing — first place: Micah Norris-Reynolds.

Quick Service Restaurant Management — second place: Justin Sweda.

Retail Merchandising Series — second place: Alexander Abernathy; third place: Na’Davia Rogers.

Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series — second place: Sydney Stark; third place: Timothy Hordinski.

Travel and Tourism Team — third place: Daniela Ortiz and Olivia Ott.

SUBMITTED Mentor High School hosted the DECA regional competition in January and qualified 28students to the upcoming state event.