Dressed in their best business attire, Harriton DECA club members made their way to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in King of Prussia on December 3rd for their District 11 competition. 

For context, DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) is a global high school and collegiate organization that prepares students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. With more than 300,000 members from around the world, this organization aims to foster future generations of experienced, educated, and dedicated professional leaders. Harriton’s DECA club provides approximately 70 of those dedicated members, and they posed some fierce competition in December’s district competition. 

Each event includes a multiple choice exam and a roleplay component. After completing their online exams the prior week at school, Harriton members traveled to the Crown Plaza to conduct their roleplays in front of a judge. To begin, each individual DECA member or team is given ten minutes to review a roleplay business scenario and take notes. Once the time is up, they head over to their event table to greet their local business executive judge and begin the roleplay. The judges score each team or individual on a variety of criteria, and at the end of the competition, winners are released. 

The District 11 region includes schools such as Lower Merion, Plymouth Whitemarsh, Friends Central, and Upper Merion, but Harriton had some of the most impressive results. Congratulations to the following members for placing top 3 in their respective events and qualifying for states!

Laila Kravitz: 2nd – Automotive Services Marketing

Patrick Luby: 3rd – Restaurant and Food Service Management

Vivienne Kwait: 1st – Principles of Business Management & Administration

Sophia Rao: 1st – Principles of Finance

Dilan Chawla and Darian Pavri: 1st – Buying and Merchandising

Oskar O’Hora and Joseph Vessal: 3rd – Buying and Merchandising

Greyson Smith and Tennessee Wolgin: 3rd – Business Law and Ethics

Jack Harker and Max Henry: 1st – Hospitality Team Decision Making

Leon Bourenane and Conner Chou: 3rd – Hospitality Team Decision Making

Zoe Goodbinder and Jana Loncarevic: 3rd – Marketing Management Team Decision Making

Angelina Jarden and Eiley O’Connell: 3rd – Sports and Entertainment Team Decision Making

In February, state-qualifying members and those competing in state-only events will bus over to Hershey for a 3 day Pennsylvania-wide competition. Good luck to everyone competing!