MIHS Students Earn Gold at DECA Orlando, Florida Conference

Four Students were amongst the 20 finalists in their events last weekend, April 30 - May 3, at the 2011 DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Orlando, Florida, where they competed against over 130 of the top teams from around the world. 

The competitions consist of real-life business scenarios and presentations in entrepreneurship, marketing, hospitality, finance, accounting and community service by high school-aged students. Olivia Rosen, sophomore, and Chris Roth, junior, teamed-up in a Hospitality Role-Play and were awarded a gold medal for placing in the top five teams in their role play and a blue ribbon for being one of the top 20 teams in the world overall. Wendy Ayers, senior, and Morgan Fink, senior, created and presented an Advertising Campaign for Starbuck’s.  They were also selected as one of the top 20 teams in the world and earned the highly-regarded gold medal award for placing in the top 10 in the world at the closing awards ceremony.

15,000 students from all fifty states, Germany, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam competed in over forty events. Students are tested in their overall leadership, academic and presentation skills at this event which is DECA’s highest level of competition. This experience inspires students to build networks, work as a team, and demonstrate their professional development in a highly competitive and exciting atmosphere. 

Mattie Friedman, also a senior and CEO of Mercer Trade, Inc., joined the MIHS team to participate in a three-day Senior Management Institute for emerging leaders around the world.