Congratulations to Conifer High School’s DECA students who competed in State competition at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs from February 25 – 28, 2017. If you are not familiar with DECA, it is an association of marketing students with competitions at the local, state and international levels.  DECA is an international student organization that is 220,000 members strong and recognized by the United States Department of Education.   To compete at State, students must perform in the top 20% of DECA students state-wide during their District competitions.  Conifer had 39 DECA students qualify to compete and had an incredibly successful competition.  The students were outstandingly considerate, professional and all around outstanding young people. The following 13 Conifer students qualified in the top 5% of Colorado DECA students and have earned a competitive spot in the International Competition with 18,000 other high school students from around the world from April 26 – 30, 2017 in Anaheim, California (last year Conifer qualified 5 students for ICDC):

• 1st place in Sports & Entertainment Promotion Plan – Elle Hickman, Alissa Searcy & Nicholas Faraco-Hadlock

• 2nd place in Business Law & Ethics Team Decision Making– Jake Esposito & Mia Miller

• 2nd place in Sports & Entertainment Team Decision Making – Mason Meyer & Abe Martin

• 3rd place in Personal Financial Literacy – Eirik Skildheim

• 5th place in Buying & Merchandising Team Decision Making – Piper Richey & Rachael Long

• 5th place in Food Marketing – Ryan Dean

• 6th place in Travel & Tourism Team Decision Making – Jake Borchard & Jack Maiocco

Additional Awards and Recognitions:

• DECA District 5 State Officer Dylan Fox completed his term at this conference

• Angela Giles was elected to serve as the DECA State District 5 Officer for this next year.

• Conifer High School’s DECA Chapter received an overall Achievement Award for our membership growth and was recognized for contributing the most community service hours among all DECA chapters in District 5.

• Teacher and DECA Advisor Amber Hall was recognized as the New Marketing Teacher of the Year.

Conifer DECA qualified 19 students for finals at State Conference this year (6 who double qualified).  55% of our State attendees were recognized on stage during awards.  Making it into the finals puts you in the top 10% of DECA Competitors in Colorado.

Congratulations to the additional Written Event Finalists:

• Innovation Plan - Jon Tyus & Austin Brown – 7th place, 1st alternate to ICDC

• Fashion & Merchandising Promotion Plan - Kendall Benton, Piper Richey & Merisa Trujillo – 7th place, 1st alternate to ICDC

• Chapter of Excellence - Jake Esposito, Mia Miller & Lena Heaney – Category 2 Silver

Congratulations to the additional Role Play Finalists:

• Samantha Briscoe & Jonathan Tyus - Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making – 8th place, 2nd alternate for ICDC

• Elle Hickman - Human Resources Management Series

• Nicholas Faraco-Hadlock - Business Services Marketing Series

Thank you Conifer DECA for representing our community so well as competitors and as considerate, mature and professional young adults. Thank you to our Conifer community for your support and encouragement of our students.  For additional information about the Conifer High School DECA program, please contact Amber Hall atamber.hall@jeffco.k12.co.us.

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