After ten days of competing against other high schools in a global competition, three teams of students from Hillsboro-Deering High School have qualified for the DECA International Conference in April 2022 in the area of Retail Management, Sports & Entertainment Management, and Restaurant Management.
The Retail Management team, made up of sole competitor and freshman Jack Harrington, finished in first place in the North Atlantic region of DECA. He will compete in the finals against teams from West Virginia, Georgia, Texas, Missouri, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Dakota, California, and Arizona.
The Sports and Entertainment Management team, made up of sophomore Mason Ferwerda and freshman Ben Perrin, finished in second place in the North Atlantic region of DECA, and seventeenth overall internationally. They will compete in the finals against teams from New York, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia, Missouri, Michigan, California, and Arizona.
The Restaurant Management team, made up of sole competitor and freshman Madison Paquette, finished in first place in the North Atlantic region of DECA. She will compete in the finals against teams from New York, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, California, Arizona, Minnesota, and Alberta, Canada. She will also compete against a Hillsboro-Deering team that qualified in the first round from the fall.
The finals, which will be held at the International Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in April, are made up of the top 16 teams in a live round-robin competition.
“We are undergoing a strong rebuilding effort at H-D DECA. I am super proud of the freshmen and sophomores that have stepped up to work hard and qualify. With qualifying rounds that are only 10 days – it is an incredibly intense and stressful level of competition. I’m excited for them and their future.” said H-D DECA advisor Marc Payeur.