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Hickory Ridge’s 157-member chapter sent 120 qualifying students to compete in this year’s DECA Career Development Conference (CDC) at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, NC on February 23-25, 2023.
HRHS joined more than 5,000 DECA members from across the state of North Carolina in 50+ competitive events across career clusters of marketing, business management and administration, finance, and hospitality and tourism. Business professional judges evaluated the members’ performance in the format of role-plays, case studies and prepared presentations.
Out of the 120 HRHS students, 93% earned proficiency in their competitions (a score of 70 or higher), and were awarded a special DECA proficiency pin to display on their blazer.
The following students received recognition for achieving a top score in their DECA test or role-play, and were awarded a test/role-play finalist medal:
- Simran Arora - Test finalist | Principles of Hospitality & Tourism
- Caleb Senthil - Test finalist | Principles of Marketing
- Sake Maramraj - Test finalist | Business Services Marketing
- Pavan Kabadi - Test finalist | Quick-Serve Restaurant Management
- Keely Furr - Test finalist | Retail Merchandising
- Steve Foka Ncheuguim - Role-play finalist | Apparel & Accessories Marketing
- Anika Arora - Role-play finalist | Human Resources Management
- Madhan Ramesh - Role-play finalist | Principles of Business Administration
- Sharanya Jagarlamudi - Role-play finalist | Personal Financial Literacy
- Jennie Lin - Role-play finalist | Quick-Serve Restaurant Management
- Garrett Pyne - Role-play finalist | Retail Merchandising
- Jordan Bliss - Role-play finalist | Retail Merchandising
- Anna Hutchins - Role-play finalist | Sports & Entertainment Marketing
- Ty Fritts - Role-play finalist | Sports & Entertainment Marketing
- Carter Lyons - Role-play finalist | Sports & Entertainment Marketing
- Casey Scollo - x2 Role-play finalists (2 medals) | Apparel & Accessories Marketing
- Madi Bates - x2 Role-play finalist (2 medals) | Human Resources Management
- Josiah Young - Test and Role-play finalist (2 medals) | Sports & Entertainment Marketing
- Keshav Saxena - Test and Role-play finalist (2 medals) | Sports & Entertainment Marketing
- Varshi Elavarasan - Test and Role-play finalist (2 medals) | Hospitality & Tourism Professional Selling
The following students received recognition for placing ‘Top 10’ in their events, and were awarded an overall finalist medal:
- Connor Lyons - 5th place | Start-Up Business Plan (Top 4 event)
- Sharanya Jagarlamudi - 5th place | Personal Financial Literacy (Top 4 event)
- Ebony Lott & Adarshana Lakshmi Narayanan - 6th place | Innovation Plan (Team event)
- Joshua Senthil - 7th place | Principles of Finance
- Aadarsh Gupta - 6th place | Food Marketing
- Varshitha Boggala - 7th place | Personal Financial Literacy
- Reshmi Polneedi - 7th place | Financial Consulting
- Garrett Pyne - 7th place | Retail Merchandising
- Sake Maramraj - 8th place | Business Services Marketing
- Steven Baker - 9th place | Professional Selling
- Helena Winterberg - 9th place | Hotel Lodging Management
- Rachel Bates - 9th place | Business Innovation Plan
- Jennie Lin - 10th place | Quick-Serve Restaurant Management
- Tej Patel - 10th place | Accounting Applications
The following students received recognition for placing ‘Top 5’ in their events, and were awarded an overall finalist medal and a DECA glass trophy. They also qualified to advance to the international level and compete at the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) on April 21-26, 2023 in Orlando, Florida.
- Josiah Young - 1st place | Sports & Entertainment Marketing
- Varshitha Elavarasan - 2nd place | Hospitality & Tourism Professional Selling
- Madhan Ramesh - 2nd place | Principles of Business Administration
- Brooke Kilts & Jensen Cruce - 3rd place | Hospitality Services (Team event)
- Deepsitha Gangadi & Christina Kondru - 3rd place | Community Awareness Project (Team event)
- Sarah Isabel - 3rd place | Finance Operations Research
- Prathysha Ravi - 3rd place | Financial Literacy Project
- Adarsh Ramanujam & Pranav Kotte - 4th place | Financial Services (Team event)
- Keshav Saxena - 4th place | Sports & Entertainment Marketing
- Caleb Senthil - 5th place | Principles of Marketing
- Keely Furr - 5th place | Retail Merchandising
Thank you to all of the HRHS staff and parents who have helped contribute to our students’ DECA success. Your feedback and expertise given through numerous practice DECA presentations have been invaluable and undoubtedly helped get these students to this point in their competitions and level of career-readiness.
THANK YOU Emily Pleasants, Janie Cruce, Frank Isley, Kendra Glover, Ellen Machado, Jennifer Teague, Nicholas Hulyo, Caleb Snell, Angela Clouse, Olayinka Bazemore, Megan Roberts, Kerri Kilts, James Young, Shenelle Robinson, Chris Summer and Peter Kim.
Additionally, recognition is well-deserved for our 2022-23 HRHS DECA Officer Team.
While these students have exemplified true leadership through their commitment to supporting every member our DECA Chapter, all six officers have also placed ‘Top 5’ in their events and will be advancing to compete internationally at ICDC.
- Josiah Young & Brooke Kilts - Presidents
- Pranav Kotte – Director of Competitive Events
- Varshitha Elavarasan – Director of Community Service
- Jensen Cruce – Director of Communications
- Keshav Saxena – Director of Special Events & Projects