From March 12 – 14, thirty DECA members represented Niles North at the annual Illinois DECA Career Development Conference (ILCDC) in Decatur, Illinois.

For those of you who don’t know, DECA is a competitive business club that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, management, finance, hospitality and more. There are two ways to compete: a written project and presentation and a role play scenario with a judge that tailors to the category you select. DECA helps students work on leadership, teamwork, time management, presentations and public speaking skills, and so much more.

Here are the results from the conference:

State finalists advancing to the international competition in Orlando, Florida (April 25 – 28):

• 2nd place, Entrepreneurship Promotion Project: Troy D’Souza, Aaron Niederman, Leah Berlowe
•  3rd place, Entrepreneurship Participating – Creating a Business: Adam Odicho
•  3rd place, Public Relations Project (Savings Tiny Hearts): Reema Gandhi, Shamamah Khan, Ayesha Riaz
•  3rd place, Restaurant & Food Services Management Series (Economic & marketing tests, 2 role plays): Med Jimenez

Top 10 finalists include:

• Business Services Operations Research: Jissy Karickal and Diana Navarro
• Entrepreneurship – Growing Your Business: Leah Berlowe and Ariel Shoffet
• Entrepreneurship Written Event: Sean Luo, Daniel Kim, and Aaron Niederman
• Financial Literacy Promotion Project: Ambria Benesch, Troy D’Souza, and Esther Dvorkin
• Principles of Hospitality & Tourism: Jissy Karickal
• Hospitality Services Team Decision Making: Daniel Kim and Sean Luo

Congratulations to all who participated, and best of luck to those representing Niles North in Orlando!