West Islip Wins 23 Trophies at DECA RegionalA total of 42 students from the high school’s Marketing Club competed against more than 1,400 participants from 26 other Suffolk schools in DECA’s Suffolk County Regional Competition, held at Suffolk County Community College in Selden. The students were accompanied by chapter adviser Diana Saadat and chaperones Elaine Longo and Patricia Paolicelli.
DECA members learn and develop important values such as civic consciousness, social intelligence, leadership skills and vocational understanding, which are instituted throughout the competition. Membership in DECA also helps the students to meet New York State’s rigorous learning standards, both in content and performance.
Natalie Cosentino earned a first place trophy in the Marketing Communications category, Nickolas De Dios and Lauren DiStefano won second in Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making, and a third place trophy went to Kayla Dixon in Public Service Visual Advertising.
Additional West Islip trophy winners included Courtney Metzger in Accounting Applications, Angelina Lombardi in Apparel & Accessories Marketing, Brian Kilkelly in Automotive Services Marketing, Isabella D’Avanzo in Business Services Marketing, Krista Ciccarelli and Briana Ferguson in Financial Services Team, Patricia Douglas and Jessica Moellendorf in Hospitality Services Team, Maya Marino and Paisley Narra in Hotel & Lodging Management, Thomas Landhauser in Human Resources Management, Anthony Cairo and Patrick Sullivan in Principles in Marketing, Carley Peters in Public Service Visual Advertising, Samantha Soevyn in Quick Serve Restaurant Management, Kendalyn Grunenberg and Lily Gilmore in Retail Merchandising, James Sladky and Aidan Kelly in Sports & Entertainment Marketing.
These students will advance to the 57th annual DECA New York State Career Conference, to be held March 6-9 at the Riverside Convention Center in Rochester. More than 4,000 DECA members from high schools throughout New York State will gather to compete in events, enhance their business skills, meet new friends and enjoy the camaraderie of the conference.
West Islip students who were awarded honorable mention in their DECA regional events were Julianna Budriss in Sports & Entertainment Marketing, James Folks in Marketing Communications and Jake Buonocore in Business Finance.
Additional West Islip DECA student participants included Angelo Buquicchio, Jillian Daniele, Kyle Dragelin, Hayley Dreyer, Heather Dreyer, Noelle Fallon, Hannah Ferrugiari, Megan Flannery, Genna Johnson, Nicole Lucas, Samantha Landri, Emily Michaluk, Gabriela Montes, Joseph Montiglio, Jaydon Rivera and Gavin Syska.