CHS DECA Competes At State Career Development Conference

The following was submitted by Tom Sousa and written by Allison Knightly.

 Earlier this month, 37 Chelmsford High School students attended the Massachusetts State Career Development Conference and completed against almost 1,500 other students from around the state.  This year, the theme of the conference was “Do Your Believe in Magic?” because students who succeed at the state level will attend the International Career Development Conference to be held in Orlando, Florida next month. 

 For the Chelmsford High contestants though, magic was not necessary, as 9 out of the 37 earned the right to compete in Orlando.  Ray Fu, Sourabh Marathe, Pete Lawlor, Krassi Popov, Matt Jean, Zach DesMarais, Gina Snelson, Jeff Breton, and Manusha Cheruddy will all represent Chelmsford in Orlando.  A total of 27 students competed in team an individual events consisting or tests and roll plays, and all 27 were awarded Certificates of Competency for their test scores at the Friday night award ceremony.  Also at this awards ceremony, medallions were awarded for participants who had the highest test scores in each category.  As a whole, Chelmsford earned a total of 6 first place, 2 second place and 3 third place medallions.  The quiz bowl team consisting of Megan Denovellis, Raveena Gupta, Jack Pearce, and Nandana Penukonda scored the highest on their written test out of a total of 30 teams and received a first round bye in the competition.  Chelmsford had many other students who placed in the top ten for their category including Eric Bass, Mark Daly, Holly Neale, Tyler Brown, Ben Martin, Chris Materna, Allison Knightly and Scott Morrison.  “Students have put in months of hard work and dedication in preparation for this conference.  Mr. Sousa and I couldn’t be any prouder of all that they have accomplished,” stated Mr. Shupe, one of the Chelmsford DECA advisors. 

 To help offset the costs for traveling to Orlando, Chelmsford DECA will hold two fundraisers in the upcoming month.  On April 1^st, eleven High School senior boys will compete for the title of  “Mr. CHS”.  This student organized and student run competition,  held in the CHS Performing Arts Center, is traditionally one of the most anticipated events of the school year.

 On Sunday night, April 10^th, professional comedian Dave Russo will be headlining a comedy show at the Princeton Station restaurant, located at 147 Princeton Street in North Chelmsford.  For information regarding tickets to either event, or to if you would like to donate to help send these kids to the international competition, please email Andy Shupe at shupea@chelmsford.k12.ma.us.  We can’t wait to see you there!