Plainfield East Senior Takes 4th at DECA Competition

PLAINFIELD, IL — Plainfield East High School senior Nabeeha Bakhrani earned fourth place at the International DECA Career Development Conference in the Apparel and Accessories Marking category held in April.

DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) helps prepare high school students for careers in marketing, entrepreneurship, finance, hospitality and management.

Bakhrani scored in the top 10 out of 200 competitors who took the Marketing Cluster Exam at the conference held April 26-29, 2017 in Anaheim, California. She was one of nearly 16,000 students vying for the international honors at the competition.

She earned her way to the international conference after placing in the state competition in early March.

Bakhrani has qualified for the international competition two of her three years in DECA. She was one of seven students from PEHS and Plainfield North High School to attend the international competition.

About 120,000 of DECA’s 225,000 student members participate in the organization’s competitive events during the school year.

The competitions simulate real-life business scenarios and test students’ academic understanding and skills development.

“It takes hard work and dedication to place at the international level as well as the state level,” said Angel Haney, the DECA advisor at PEHS.

“Because this is an extra-curricular club instead of a class like many other schools in Illinois and across the nation, DECA is a self-motivated commitment outside of the regular school day,” Haney said.

Submitted by District 202