Massachusetts DECA State Career Development Conference
The Scituate DECA Chapter returned home triumphant on Saturday, March 1, from the 66th annual Massachusetts DECA State Career Development Conference (SCDC) at the Westin Seaport and Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC) with 9 students qualifying for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Orlando, FL.
Thirty-Three Scituate High School students joined over 4,000 students, advisors, and business professionals for the 3-day conference where students competed in over 50 categories of marketing, hospitality, finance, and entrepreneurship. Scituate DECA earned 11 medallions for a top score on the comprehensive exam or role play, 7 Top-12 State-Finalist, and 9 State Champions. The State Conference theme was Chart Your Course (Click here to view the Program Booklet).
In addition, the Scituate High School Store “The Shipyard” received its first ever recognition as National DECA Gold Certification. The qualification consists of members documenting in a 50 page report the school store’s adherence to the required 10 achievement standards. These standards document the retail operations of the school based enterprise for the 2024-2025 school year.
The SCDC took place from February 27 to March 1 with preliminary rounds on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, finals on Friday afternoon, and the Grand Awards on Saturday morning. Students participated in one of three types of competition:
Role Play Competition: In the preliminary round, all role-play competitors took a 100-question comprehensive exam then performed 2 role-plays with business professionals who volunteer as judges. Role-plays ask students to solve a problem and present their solution to the judge while covering specific performance indicators.
Written Projects: In the preliminary round, project competitors wrote a 10 or 20 page paper then presented their work to the judge. Written projects include project management, operations research, and entrepreneurial business plans.
The Top 12 competitors from the preliminary round advanced to the finals, where their previous role-play and presentation scores were dropped. In the finals, competitors performed one more role-play or presentation to determine their ranking in the Top 12. At the Grand Awards, trophies were awarded to the Top 7 in role-plays and Top 6 in written projects and those students qualified for ICDC in Orlando, FL.
State Finalists (Top 12): ICDC Alternates
| Student & Grade | Category |
| Will Hine 10 | Sport and Entertainment Marketing Event |
| Parker Shaw 11 | Quick Serve Restaurant Mgmt |
| Gracelyn Veiga 12 | Financial Literacy Project - Women’s Business Association |
| Jake Linnell and Quinn DeCourcey 12 | Travel and Tourism Marketing Event |
| Griffin McGirr and Aidan Toomey 10 | Travel and Tourism Marketing Event |
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State Champions: ICDC Qualifiers
| Student & Grade | Category |
| Ben Hill and Calvin Anderson 12 | Sport and Entertainment Marketing Event |
| Bailey Young and Savanna Garabedian 12 | Financial Team Event |
| Kadenn LaVangie, Molly Quirk, Taylor Tourtillott, Roman Glowac, Ashton Seymour | SBE - School Store Certification - Gold Level Status |
DECA is a co-curricular organization of high school students that builds transferable skills for college and career with over 200,000 members in all 50 states, four US territories, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Korea, and more. DECA helps students develop skills for successful careers, builds self-esteem, provides leadership opportunities, and stresses community involvement and service.
The Scituate DECA Chapter is led by Ross Maki, DECA Advisor & Business Teacher, and supported by Department Chair Greg Ranieri, and Business Teacher Eric Fagerlund. The program is in its 18th year at SHS with 140 overall DECA members. The experience would not be possible without the support of faculty who donated their time to chaperone the trip: Will Seward and Tom Raab.
To learn more about DECA, visit www.deca.org and www.madeca.org.