SHAKOPEE DECA MEMBERS ATTEND STATE CONFERENCE

Shakopee High School brought 73 students to the 2023 Minnesota DECA State Career Development Conference, which was held March 5-7 in Minneapolis. Continuing a tradition of excellence for the young Shakopee DECA program,14 Shakopee students will advance to this year’s DECA Internationals competition.

The following Shakopee students will compete with 22,000 top DECA students from around the world at the International Career Development Conference in Orlando April 22-26: seniors Ashwin Thomas, Christian Vilter, Molly Morrow, Jake Haider, Nandana Nair, Dallas Manivanh, and Paul Kurtzweil;  juniors Peyton Hansen, Nitiya Arun, Andrew Klemm, Rees Hopkins, and Katie McCutcheon, sophomore John Schubert; and ninth grader Calvin Ingleby.

Approximately 4,300 Minnesota DECA student members take part in the organization’s competitive events program during the school year, allowing them to compete in over 50 events focused on the areas of entrepreneurship, finance, hospitality, marketing and related fields. The competitions are designed to simulate real-life business scenarios and test students’ academic understanding and skills development. 

After qualifying at district competitions earlier this year, students put their talents to the test during the state competition. The top 12 finishers in each DECA category advance to the state finals. Shakopee advanced 21 students/groups to the finals this year:

WRITTEN PAPERS

• Community Awareness Chapter Project – Nitiya Arun, Smrithi Arunkumar and Jasmine Lota, 6th place

• Community Giving Chapter Project- Jake Haider, Molly Morrow and Alex Estrada, 7th place

• Innovation Plan  – Raina Shah and Veda Poranki, 8th place

• Independent Business Plan – Kate Koller and Breklyn Skattum, 9th place

• Sales Chapter Project-  John Schubert and Izzy Manivanh, 10th place

PROFESSIONAL SELLING

• Financial Consulting- Paul Kurtzweil, 4th place

• Professional Selling- Nitiya Arun, 4th place

PRINCIPLE ROLE PLAYS

• Principles of Hospitality Management- Calvin Ingleby, 6th place

• Principles of Marketing - Ritesh Prabhu, 8th place

• Principles of Marketing- Raina Shah , 9th place

INDIVIDUAL ROLE PLAYS

• Entrepreneurship Series Role Play – Dallas Manivanh, 1st place

• Food Marketing Role Play - Nitiya Arun, 1st place

• Quick Serve Restaurant Management- Nandana Nair, 2nd place

• Human Resources Management Role Play - John Schubert, 3rd place

TEAM ROLE PLAYS

• Hospitality Team Decision Making – Rees Hopkins and Katie McCutcheon, 10th place

TOP TEST SCORE MEDALS

• Business Management and Administration Cluster Exam - John Schubert

• Marketing Cluster Exam - Nitiya Arun

• Finance Exam - Paul Kurtzweil

• Business Administration Exam- Nick Briggs