By Stephen Smoot
After an incredible two years in which the Lincoln High School DECA club won a grant and established a community organization to promote and improve the West Fork River Rail Trail, Lincoln students found a way to achieve new heights.
On March 9 and 10, students attended the Career Development Conference. There, attendees experienced “motivational speakers, competency-based competitive events, , and state officer elections,” as the website shared.
Those who won events received selection to the International Career Development Conference later this year.
Lincoln High School sent 19 students to participate and compete. Club Advisor and LHS teacher Julia Yearego said “Eleven of those placed in the top three places in their competition events, earning medals and bragging rights for state academic competition placement.”
According to the conference site, “DECA’s industry-validated competitive events are aligned with the National Curriculum Standards in the career clusters of marketing, business management and administration, finance, and hospitality and tourism.”
Eight Lincoln students earned placement at the international conference through winning first place awards. This year it will be held in Orlando, Florida next month.
First place winners included Maxwell Fratto in financial consulting, Cody Zheng in principles of business administration, Hope Blackwell in financial literacy, Dessiyon Hatchett, restaurant and food service management, and Izabel Shaw, principles of hospitality and tourism.
Ashton Fulton and Seth Nay won second place in human resources management and principles of business administration, respectively.
Third place awards went to Danica Pysz for apparel and accessories marketing, Victoria Starkey for marketing communications, and Mercy Frase in principles of finance.
Fratto also won election as the new West Virginia State DECA President, selected by state chapter officers.
DECA members have already started fundraising to pay for the trip of the eight selected for international competition. Those wishing to donate should email Savannah Burns at savannah.hoffman@k12.wv.us, or Julie Yearego at jyearego@k12.wv.us.
