Mattituck High School DECA students at last week’s state competition. (Credit: Courtesy photos)
DECA students from Mattituck and Southold high schools received top honors at a New York State competition in Rochester last week, where they put their business skills to the test.
COURTESY PHOTO | Mattituck High School student Kevin Williams, left, and Southold High School student Will Tondo at the Jan. 8 DECA competition in Selden.
DECA students from all three North Fork high schools received top honors at a Suffolk County Regional Competition in Selden on Jan. 8, where they put their business skills to the test.
High school students from across the county competed in either role playing or exams and attended leadership conferences and award ceremonies hosted by the Distributive Education Club of America, known as DECA. The national organization promotes business and marketing skills among high school students.
North Fork DECA advisors said most competitions were evaluated by two judges due to time constraints because more students participated than in previous years. Under this arrangement, each judge picked five winners and then created a Top 10 list.
If a single judge evaluated a competition, then students earned first, second or third place awards.
MATTITUCK HIGH SCHOOL
COURTESY PHOTOS | Mattituck High School students.
Mattituck High School students.
Mattituck High School DECA advisor Lu Anne Nappe said her students that took home first-place trophies include: Kevin Schwartz (Quick Serve Restaurant Management); Emily Ciamaricone (Public Service Broadcast Advertising, TV ad); and Joseph Nadel (Wholesale Selling). Second-place winners include: Antonina Lentini (Principles of Marketing); Clay Davis and Meghan Daly (Business Law & Ethics Team Event); and Charley Claudio (Decision Making, human resources). Maisy Claudio won third place in Public Speaking, extemporaneous.
Twenty-one of Ms. Nappe’s students also placed in the Top 10, including: Lika Osepashvili (Business Management & Administration); Erik Olsen and Ian Nish (Principles of Finance); Sean Gambaiani and Raven Janoski (Principles of Hospitality & Tourism); Jed Donikyan and Daniel Parks (Principles of Marketing); Steven Baird and Zev Carter (Business Law & Ethics); Marisa Sannino and Nick Vitolano (Hospitality Services); Charles Hickox and Christopher Mehalakes (Marketing Communications); Kyle Freudenberg (Accounting Applications); Jacob Branker (Business Finance); Dawn Rochon (Food Marketing); Thomas Behr (Hotel & Lodging Management); Sarah Sheppard (Human Resources Management); Christine Bieber (Marketing Management); Michael O’Rouke (Quick Serve Restaurant Management); Collette Kodym (Restaurant & Food Services Management); Kevin Diffley and Christian Montgomery (Decision Making, marketing); Colleen Kelly (Public Speaking, extemporaneous); Terrence McKinney (Public Speaking, prepared); Kevin Williams (Sales Demonstration); Madison Kent (Visual Advertising, public service); Riley Savercool and Sarah Pfennig (Visual Advertising).
Mattituck High School students that received an honorable mention include: Eshi Baldano (Automobile Services Marketing); Ben Herbert (Business Services Marketing); Sarah Fogarty (Hotel & Lodging Marketing); Christopher Sledjeski and Kaylee Bergen (Hospitality Services Management, team).
Ms. Nappe said 89 students of her 94-member club participated in the county contest and 23 of them are moving on to the state competition in March.
SOUTHOLD HIGH SCHOOL
COURTESY PHOTOS | From left, Southold High School students Mike Ryan, Drew Sacher, Zach Ellis and Kenji Fujita.
Southold High School students.
Southold High School DECA advisor Kathy Williams said 25 out of her 72 students will also participate in the state competition.
Her student Dan Stahl won third place in the Quick Serve Restaurant Management contest. The remaining winners placed in the Top 10, including: Steven Amato (Public Speaking, prepared); Robert Anderson (Decision Making, human resources); Rachel Burns (Hotel & Lodging Management); Jack Dunne (Food Marketing); Zach Ellis (Public Speaking, extemporaneous); Kenji Fujita (Job Interview); Shayne Johnson (Business Management & Administration); Rob Mahoney (Broadcast Advertising); Jamie Molinar (Principles of Hospitality & Tourism); Sean Moran (Broadcast Advertising); Logan Pfister (Visual Advertising, public service); Emily Pressler (Marketing Communications, team); Shannon Quinn (Visual Advertising); Greg Quist (Wholesale Selling); Jessica Rizzo (Decision Making, human resources); Mike Ryan (Business Finance); Gus Rymer (Broadcast Advertising, public service); Julia Saccamano (Marketing Communications, team); Drew Sacher (Decision Making, marketing); Willow Sutton (Marketing Communications, team); Walker Sutton (Food Marketing); Will Tondo (Sales Demonstration); Meg VanBourgondien (Marketing Communications, team); and Aidan Walker (Marketing Management).
GREENPORT HIGH SCHOOL
COURTESY PHOTO | Greenport High School DECA students.
Greenport DECA advisor Martha Tuthill said 11 of her students scored in the Top 10, including: Kelly Dacimo (Principles of Business Managment & Administration); Jasmine Fell (Wholesale Selling); Schuyler Gillispie (Decision Making, marketing); Brandi Gonzalez (Sales Demonstration); Vivian Mantzopoulos (Principles of Finance); Megan Murray (Broadcast Advertising, public service); Elizabeth Powe (Public Speaking, prepared); Isabelle Simon (Radio Broadcast); Madison Tabor (Principles of Hospitality & Tourism); Brian Tuthill (Decision Making, human resources); Rosemary Volinski (Job Interview).
Honorable mentions were awarded to: Valentina Acero (Wholesale Selling); Ryan Costello (Job Interview); Dory Lieblein (Food Marketing); Aidan Pollack (Principles of Finance); and Katie Tuthill (Radio Broadcast).