Hillsboro-Deering Student Virtual Business Retail team places third; Hillcat Corner store earns gold

The Orange County Convention Center served as the backdrop for DECA’s International Career Development Conference (ICDC) recently held from April 22 through April 25. Thirteen Hillsboro-Deering High School DECA members joined approximately 22,000 other DECA members from all 50 states, several provinces of Canada, and other nations, including Spain, Italy, Japan, China, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil at this year’s conference.

H-D’s DECA team returned from the competition with a group that finished in third place overall in their competition. Earning a spot in the top-10 represents an extreme level of competitiveness. The team, comprised of sophomore Jack Harrington, freshman Noah Harrington, and senior Manny Velazquez competed in the Virtual Business Retail Management competition and through two rounds earned $28,614,093, only $2,000,000 away from the first place Virginia team.

During the School Based Enterprise Competition, seniors Alexis Ledvina, Madison Ledvina, and junior Isabel Swirko, accepted the award for achieving Gold Certification for the School Based Enterprise on behalf of the Hillcat Corner, the chapter’s school based enterprise. This is the sixteenth consecutive year that the chapter has received this award.

Rounding out the team of the thirteen qualified students from Hillsboro-Deering was senior Owyn Turner (Accounting), juniors Kyle Nickulas (Financial Consulting), Mason Ferwerda (Thrive Academy), Mya Brochu (Ignite Academy), sophomores Ben Perrin (Thrive Academy), Madison Paquette (Thrive Academy), and freshmen Eva Contreras (Principles of Business).

When the team had time – they visited the Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Disney Springs, and Universal Studios.

“I can stress how great this Hillsboro-Deering team did. There were over 220,000 members in DECA this year and 22,000 attended ICDC. Just qualifying to go puts these students in the top 10%, and finishing 3rd overall really says something about our little school. I am super proud of them.” said Mr. Marc Payeur, advisor to HD DECA.

H-D DECA is so very grateful to all their wonderful benefactors. The chapter would like to express thanks to the Duncan Jenkins Trust, The Henniker Rotary, Laura Buono, Dorothy Martin, and those who wished to remain anonymous for their extreme generosity in assisting with the funding of this enriching activity. Further thanks to all those who purchased pizza and/or attended the Easter Movie Night. H-D DECA appreciates your continued support. Thank you!