DECA students at Sandy Creek High and Whitewater High schools demonstrated their knowledge and skills in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management at the regional DECA competition, with a total of 25 of them advancing to the state conference.

The competition evaluation process involves both a written component such as an exam or report, and an interactive component with an industry professional serving as a judge.

DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management in high schools and colleges around the globe through the use of integrated classroom instruction, applied learning, business partnerships, and competition.

The following students will compete in February at the 2017 State Career and Development Conference in Atlanta:

(Sandy Creek) Chynae Smith, first place, Business Speech; Ravi Al-Sahalman, first place, Automotive Services; Jessica Green, first place, Personal Finance Literacy; Zachary Vinson, first place, Business Services Marketing; Nina Lum, first place,

Hotel and Lodging Management; Ruthanne DeGrange, first place, Marketing Communications; Jocelyn Ordaz, Restaurant and Food Service Management; Fanny Cheng, second place, Accounting; Jamila Godfrey, Principles of Marketing; Gabe Bartolomei, third place, Personal Finance Literacy; Lucious Turner, third place, Business Finance; Maya Dacres, fourth place, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism.

(Whitewater High) Dymond Moore, first place, Apparel and Accessories Marketing; Ashton Spivey, first place, Retail Merchandising; John Skiebel, first place, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism; Josh Diamond, second place, Automotive Services Marketing; Ahil Lilywala, second place, Business Finance; Trevor Watson, second place, Food Marketing; Madias Loper, second place, Business Services Marketing; Desmond Moore, second place, Quick Serve Restaurant Management; Sierra Gibson, third place, Hotel and Lodging Management; Joey Geise, third place, Restaurant and Food Service Management; Jake Sanders, third place, Retail Merchandising; Sarah Geise, fourth place, Hotel and Lodging Management; Connor Tringali, fourth place, Marketing Communications