Members of the Los Alamos High School DECA team who competed March 4-5 in the New Mexico State DECA Competition in Albuquerque. Photo Courtesy LAPS
LAHS DECA team members compete in the DECA Quiz Bowl. Photo Courtesy LAPS
LAPS NEWS RELEASE
Eight Los Alamos High School students have qualified to participate in the International DECA Competition in April.
Seniors Gabriel (Gabe) Cook, Shaun Kilde and Mia Martinez, along with juniors Elliott Beveridge, Zane Kretz and Sawyer Talley and sophomores Luke Creel and Alyssa Sun will compete in the Individual DECA Competitive Events at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Anaheim, Calif.
All eight of these students ranked in the top three performers in the Individual Series category in the New Mexico State DECA Competition held March 4-5 in Albuquerque. Cook won first place in Quick Serve Restaurant Management, Creel won first place in Principles of Finance and Sun won first place in Principles of Marketing. Kilde won second place in Principles of Marketing, Kretz won second place in Marketing Communications, Martinez won second place in Personal Financial Literacy and Talley won second place in Principles of Finance. Beveridge won third place in Business Finance.
LAHS Senior Marissa Meiedierks was selected to participate in the DECA Aspire Ultimate Graduate Leadership Training Academy, where participants will focus on leveraging their DECA experience for college and career success.
The LAHS DECA Quiz Bowl Team also won first place at the State Conference. Three and four-person teams were presented with questions related to economics, business, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Creel, Kilde and Kretz represented LAHS at the 2024 State DECA Quiz Bowl. The LAHS team won the preliminary District 1 competition and advanced to defeat La Cueva High School (District 2) to emerge as the 2024 New Mexico DECA Quiz Bowl champions.
Thirty-four LAHS DECA students participated in the District One written test competition. Students from 15 high schools completed two 100-question written tests at the district level. Testing categories included Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Business Management, Hospitality and Tourism and Finance. Students with the top eight scores in each category advance to the State level. Cook, Creel and Kilde received special recognitions for high scores on the District Exam.
Thirty-two LAHS students qualified to advance to the state competition, where students from 24 New Mexico High Schools compete for the opportunity to participate in the International Competition. Twenty LAHS students chose to continue to the State level.
These students completed an additional 100-question written test and participated in a live “role play” scenario at the State DECA conference.
Fourteen LAHS DECA students advanced in the State competition to become New Mexico State Finalists. These students then participated in an additional “role play”. The top four finalists in each category qualify to compete at the international competition.
“The students’ performance this year surpassed our previous performances at the competition. This year we added a student-peer coach, Gabe Cook, Vice President of Career Development for LAHS DECA, to help the students practice for quiz bowl and role plays. I believe much of our success at the competition this year is a result of the additional practice time and training provided by the peer coach. Our teams began practicing for the competition in August and worked diligently throughout fall semester to prepare for this competition,” said Los Alamos High School DECA Advisor Dr. Sharon Hurley. “I am hopeful that many of our DECA students will pursue careers in business and marketing. They are the future business leaders in our local, state, and national communities. We are grateful to LAHS Administrators and Los Alamos Public Schools District Office for their continued support of the DECA program.”
The international competition is part of the 2024 International Career Development Conference hosted by the DECA organization. The conference, held in Anaheim, California in April, will bring some 20,000 high school students, advisors, DECA alumni, and business leaders together to discuss preparing for college and careers in business. DECA is an international organization dedicated to providing opportunities for students to participate in leadership training and career pathways conferences in the fields of marketing, finance, business management, and hospitality and tourism. Additionally, DECA provides students with experience in interviewing and networking with other students from around the globe who have similar career interests. DECA also offers merit-based scholarships for participating students.