Congratulations to the 24 Oxford High School DECA students who became finalists at the State DECA Conference in Washington D.C., March 16-18.
Out of the 48 students from OHS who participated, 17 won medals at the state competition and 24 finalists qualified to compete at the 61st Annual High School International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Florida April 27-May 2.
DECA is an international association of high school and college students studying marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality and marketing sales and service. Thousands of high school students, advisors and sponsors are expected to participate in DECA’s international competition.
‘I’m real proud of the kids,’said Steve Ruch, who serves as the DECA adviser at OHS. ‘We graduated a lot of the kids last year from the club, and I was expecting maybe 10-15 kids to qualify. We went way beyond what I had expected.?
Finalists and international qualifiers include Jose Arbelaez, Elizabeth Ardelan, Mitchell Blose, Anna Bonfiglio, Brandon Dugan, Danielle Esman, Angela Falzarano, Kaitlyn Fischer, Logan Fulk, Janelle Grai, Elizabeth Hazelwood, Kourtney Kadrich, Eric Kubina, Melissa Labarge, Adam Lewis, Jacqueline Magdaleno, Kristine Maxwell, Katelyn McCormick, Marissa McIntosh, Jordan Murray, Serafina Saroli, Ashley Vanatten, Adam Walker and Charlene Withun.
State medalists include Gethin Angell, Eric Bouck, Samantha Bryant, Teasha Burnia, Garret Cameron, Kaitlin DuCharme, Danielle Gallo, Benjamin Holland, Vincent Ives, Mark Jones, Kenneth Lalone, Jennifer Mancini, Joseph Rigley, Jacob Shall, Breanne Shuler, Abby Stewart and Danielle Wicker.