On Jan. 13, over 2,800 students from schools around Bergen County participated in the North East Division DECA Regionals held at Ramapo College. Of those students, 42 Hills DECA members qualified for States in Atlantic City on March 4-6.
DECA is a national organization dedicated to preparing high school students for leadership roles and entrepreneurial careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. There are three main levels of competition, including testing and roleplay, and students have the choice to pick an area of focus from over 60 specific types of competitive events and business-related categories.
At Hills, students first selected their events and respective roles in early October.
Following online testing, 148 Hills competitors headed to Ramapo College where they enacted role plays related to case studies for their events. The top 15 scores in individual events and the top 10 scores for team events are now moving on to States.
Freshman Jared Litt reflected on his experience with DECA so far, explaining, “Competing in DECA Regionals was a really fun experience from the preparation to the actual conference. I am really thrilled to be moving on to States and look forward to additional events in the future.”
DECA advisor, Corin Gamgort, is proud of all the students who participated in DECA Regionals this year, marking the 14th year that Pascack Hills has competed. This year, New Jersey DECA also hit a milestone with over 13,000 members statewide.
The following members qualified for States. Listed are the categories and the team or individual that qualified.
Automotive Services Marketing:
Kyle Hanna
Kirill Zhukau
Business Finance Series:
Ayan Swain
Shaun Wu
Business Law and Ethics Team Decision-Making
William Izzo and Brendan Luff
Lindsay Grus and Nina Indugula
Business Services Marketing Series
Dylan Busanic
Selen Sari
Zack Slater
Buying and Merchandising Management Team Decision Making
Leah Behar and Diana Bodini
Financial Consulting Event
Juliana Ciaudelli
Kiran Dhawan
Natalie Krass
Dylan Wolpov
Food Marketing Series
Justin Yoo
Financial Services Team Decision Making
Ethan Karuru and Jared Litt
Ben Bauta and Nathaniel Edelshain
Vazyl Adams and Nathan Jeong
Human Resources Management Series
Madison Espinosa
Taleen Stephans
Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling
Ali Cohen
Jack Dugan
Principles of Business Management and Admin.
Maya Zislin
Principles of Entrepreneurship
Shayna Millman
Principles of Finance
Ben Miller
Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
Julia Tesser
Professional Selling
Arkady Kokush
Andrew Weishar
Restaurant and Food Service Management
Zahraa Islam
Logan Nassau
Kira Zizzo
Retail Merchandising
Aanya Sah
Travel and Tourism Marketing Management Team Decision-Making
David Fruitbine and Ari Shashoua
Lucas Dao and Austin Miller
To Note: this list is only students who qualified and does not include students who submitted papers or potential position changes.
Take a look at the gallery below for photos from DECA Regionals.
