Two Plainfield East High School juniors are the first in district history to earn a chance to compete at the DECA International Career Development Conference, being held in April 30-May 3, 2011 in Orlando, Fla.

DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) is an organization for students with an interest in business and marketing. Each competition comprises a math or economics test, a product knowledge test and role-playing. Students compete in areas of personal interest.

Lauren Parse and Hana Prince both earned second-place finishes at the DECA state Career Development Conference held March 3-5, 2011 in Decatur, Illinois. Both competed in the “Buying and Team Merchandising Team Decision Making” event.

PEHS Seniors Nick Martinez and Venessa Purefoy both finished ninth in their categories – Martinez in Sports and Entertainment Marketing, and Purefoy in Food Marketing Services. Purefoy will also attend the international conference as a voting delegate to elect national officers, but will not compete.

In all, 16 PEHS students competed at state. This is the third year PEHS has had a DECA group. As well, 16 Plainfield North High School students also competed at the state DECA event, 12 of which earned recognition for excelling in one or more areas of competition.  

PNHS has had a DECA group for five years. None of PNHS’s students will move on to the international competition. However, 12

“My students did such an outstanding job, and I am so proud of them,” said PEHS math teacher and DECA sponsor Angelina Haney.

These District 202 students competed at the March 2011 DECA event:

PEHS

• Aashaf Ahmed, junior – BUYING AND MERCHANDISING TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Amber Arvin, senior – FINANCIAL SERVICES TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Courtney Bull, senior – HOSPITALITY TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Emily Dole, senior – FINANCIAL SERVICES TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Alexa Lawdensky, senior – HOSPITALITY TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Connor Marchetti, senior – SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING
• Nicholas Martinez, senior – SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING
• Nina Medina, junior – BUYING AND MERCHANDISING TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Lauren Parse, junior – BUYING AND MERCHANDISING TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Ashley Peek, sophomore – HOSPITALITY TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Helena Pelikan, junior – SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING
• Hana Prince, junior – BUYING AND MERCHANDISING TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Venessa Purefoy, senior – FOOD MARKETING SERVICES
• Jake Tatum, sophomore – QUICK SERVICE MANAGEMENT
• Julia Zayed, junior – HOSPITALITY TEAM DECISION MAKING

PNHS

• Ashley Arce, junior – PRINCIPALS OF MARKETING SERVICES
• Samantha Doig, senior – RESTAURANT AND FOOD SERVICES MANAGEMENT
• Emily Dombrowski, sennior – HOSPITALITY TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Crystal Eng, junior – TRAVEL AND TOURISM DECISION MAKING
• Matthew Hebron, sophomore – PRINCIPALS OF MARKETING SERVICES
• Puneeth Kodavatiganti, junior – SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Grant Kramer, junior – MARKETING MANAGEMENT SERVICES
• Kevin Lindsay, junior – MARKETING MANAGEMENT SERVICES
• Ariel Na, sophomore – TRAVEL AND TOURISM DECISION MAKING
• Harris Nisar, sophomore – BUSINESS SERVICES MANAGEMENT
• Alesha Patel, junior – TRAVEL AND TOURISM DECISION MAKING
• Nisha Patel, junior – TRAVEL AND TOURISM DECISION MAKING
• Edward Roebert, junior – SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Harry Sanders, senior – RESTAURANT AND FOOD SERVICES MANAGEMENT
• Chelsey Walker, senior – HOSPITALITY TEAM DECISION MAKING
• Braylon Williams, senior – ACCOUNTING APPLICATIONS SERVICES