West Bloomfield DECA Wins Awards at International Competition

West Bloomfield Township, MI – April 27-May 1, 2019. Thirty-three West Bloomfield High School (WBHS) DECA students traveled to Orlando, Florida to attend the annual DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC). Eleven of the delegates earned Top 20 recognition.

Juniors Sam Hughes, Sverre Sears and Cole Hall earned third place in the Virtual Business Sports Challenge among 48,000 students from around the world. Kyler Hwa and Tejas Kode placed seventh in the Virtual Business Fashion Challenge among the same number of competitors. Jay Rubin, Brian Synowiec and Lara Mathias placed among the top 20 in their Creative Marketing Project researching Toyology owned by WBHS DECA Alumni Aric and Jonathan Klar. The Sports Virtual Business Team of Paul Gagnon, Alec Vincent and Brad Simtob placed tenth.

Every year, DECA students from all over the world gather at the ICDC to compete in one of DECA’s performance-based competitive events. The top competitors in each event are recognized for their outstanding achievements, and many are awarded with continuing education, scholarships and cash rewards. WBHS students work year-round to compete at this level.

This year’s conference brought over 20,000 top high school student performers and advisors from all 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Canada, China, Germany, Guam, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain to compete in 36 different events. DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

On Saturday, WBHS DECA members arrived in Orlando at the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace hotel. Later that day the conference started with the Grand Opening Ceremony that featured a performance by Blue Man Group and keynote speaker Ben Nemtin, the creator, executive producer and cast member of the MTV series, “The Buried Life.”

On Sunday morning students gathered into their respective categories for a competition briefing. At this briefing, each competitor was issued a presentation time slot. Upon completion, students had time to practice their presentations or simulations before heading to Disney World that evening. Students then competed on Monday followed by DECA Night at Universal Orlando.

The conference concluded with a chapter dinner at Benihana and a grand awards ceremony on Tuesday night where students were recognized for outstanding performance in online testing, written research reports, oral presentations and virtual business online simulations.

We are very proud to acknowledge the ICDC qualifiers and winners (listed below) along with their competition categories.

Qualified participants:
Yasmin Bangura, (12), Sports and Entertainment Operation Research
Max Barash, (11), Entrepreneurship Promotion Project
Lyndsey Bruce, (11), Business Operations Research
Sam Carlin, (11), Entrepreneurship Promotion Project
Aaryan Chandna, (9), Principles of Business Management
Zachary Crawford, (12), Community Service Project
Paul Gagnon, (12), Virtual Business Challenge Sports
Cole Hall, (11), Virtual Business Challenge Sports
Samuel Hughes, (11), Virtual Business Challenge Sports
Kyler Hwa, (11), Virtual Business Challenge Fashion
Unser Jaffry, (11), Business Growth Plan
Tejas Kode, (11), Virtual Business Challenge Fashion
Abhi Kumar, (12), Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling
Bhargavi Kurakula, (12), Sports and Entertainment Operations Research
Lara Mathias, (11), Creative Marketing Project
Isaac Mintz, (11), Retail Merchandising Series Event
Jacob Nafso, (11), Business Operations Research
Shannon Osborne, (12), International Business Plan
Nina Perry, (12), Sports and Entertainment Marketing Operations Research
Jay Rubin, (12), Creative Marketing Project
Abby Schell, (12), Community Service Project
Ilana Schwartz, (11), Integrated Marketing Campaign Event
Sverre Sears, (11), Virtual Business Challenge Sports
Sahith Shankar, (10), Hotel and Lodging Management Series Event
Isabella Sheena, (12), Sports and Entertainment Operations Research
Marisa Silver, (11), Integrated Marketing Campaign Event
Bradley Simtob, (12), Virtual Business Challenge Sports
Brian Synowiec, (11), Creative Marketing Project
Sarah Tomkovicz, (12), Community Service Project
Ayushi Uppal, (11), Entrepreneurship Promotion Project
Alec Vincent, (12), Virtual Business Challenge Sports
Taylor Zrepskey, (11), Business Operations Research Event

International Winners:
Cole Hall (11), Samuel Hughes (11), Sverre Sears (11) – 3rd Place – Virtual Business Challenge Sports

Kyler Hwa (11), Tejas Kode (11) - 7th Place - Virtual Business Challenge Fashion

Jay Rubin (12), Brian Synowiec (11), Lara Mathias (12) – Top 20 – Creative Marketing Project

Alec Vincent (12), Paul Gagnon (12), Brad Simtob (12) - Top 10- Virtual Business Challenge Sports

Zachary Crawford (12) - Marriott International Scholarship

"These are the experiences that will shape my future. These are the skills that will help me succeed. Thank you WBHS for giving me this opportunity!” – Isaac Mintz

"Even if you don't make it on stage, your bound to meet so many people and make so many connections that are invaluable to your future." - Kyler Hwa

"We have over two-hundred students in our program who work with us throughout the year, and many for up to four years. To see them recognized as one of the top marketing students in the world is indescribable. One can't imagine the amount of time and commitment it takes to achieve at this level, and I could not be more proud of each of our students. The relationships created in this program between the fellow students, the organization, the community and businesses are priceless. The ability to work with our students inside the classroom, after school and travel with them to competitions allows us to create a unique bond that does not end upon graduation. We continue to follow the success of, "our kids". - Julie Zalla

"We prepare our students inside the building, while the real learning happens when they take that knowledge and demonstrate it to the judges and their peers at the International Conference. We love seeing them achieve." Jacqueline Evola

“Thank you Marriott International for assisting me in furthering my education! Words cannot fully express how grateful I am for this scholarship.” - Zachary Crawford

"ICDC was so much fun. I can’t wait for next year." – Samuel Hughes
About West Bloomfield High School DECA:
West Bloomfield DECA is an International Competitive Business Organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in four fields of business: marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. The West Bloomfield High School DECA chapter integrates classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business, and promotes competition in order to prepare the next generation to be academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible, and experienced leaders. Students enrolled in any West Bloomfield High School Business class may participate in DECA.

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