On Friday, April 24, Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) members traveled to Atlanta, Ga., to compete at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC).
The ICDC is an international-level conference in which students compete in different business events, varying from International Business Plan to Professional Selling. The event took place from April 25-28.
“It’s important for our students to experience traveling to a large city, meeting and networking with students from all over the U.S. and other countries and getting the opportunity to share their research projects with professionals,” sponsor Shaina Prough said.
To qualify to go to ICDC, DECA students had to place in their events at the Kansas State Career Development Conference (SCDC) from March 1-3.
The following students placed at SCDC and qualified for ICDC:
Juniors Elsa Brungardt and Brooklyn Koerner: Business Operations – first
Junior Jose Rauda: Business Growth Plan – first
Senior Lizzy Vajnar: Professional Selling – first
Seniors Ava Biggs, Savannah Clingan and Jenna Kisner: Community Giving – second
Seniors Mitzi Carrillo and Aralen Maupin: Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research – second
Juniors Neema Murithi and Hannah Strasser: International Business Plan – fifth
At ICDC, none of the Hays High School teams made it to the final round or placed, but nine groups placed in the Top 20 percent in their events, with each having 160 entries.
These groups include Biggs, Clingan and Kisner in Community Giving Project; Carrillo and Maupin in Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research; Vajnar in Professional Selling; Murithi and Strasser in International Business Plan; and Rauda in Business Growth Plan.
“The most challenging part of the competition was trying to impress the judge since the competition was so high,” Maupin said.
Outside of competing, students explored Atlanta, including going to Centennial Olympic Park, the Georgia Aquarium, Six Flags Over Georgia and World of Coca-Cola.
“The most memorable part of my trip was getting stuck in an elevator with everyone from Hays High,” Brungardt said.
