Group honored for efforts with coat drive, MDA

Demopolis High School’s DECA Club represented DHS at the 2018 Alabama DECA State Career Development conference Feb. 21 and 22 in Birmingham, bringing home 21 trophies and several other awards.  A total of 27 students attended the conference and competed in entrepreneurship, business administration, marketing, finance, and hospitality and tourism. 

Projects were done throughout the school year by DECA members and the chairs on those projects compiled 30-page papers and 15-minute presentations. Several students competed individually while others competed in teams. 

“These students worked extremely hard to get on stage in Birmingham, through working countless hours during and after school to ensure their events were successful,” said Courtney Kerby, Marketing Imagine Academy Teacher at DHS.

The chapter won several awards. One being the Thrive Level Community Service campaign from a coat drive the students hosted in the fall. 

Another chapter award was earned from MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association). Students hosted a “Tailgate for MDA” before the Tigers played in the fourth round of the state playoffs. DECA charged admission to the tailgate and raffled off door prizes donated by Green Family Eye Care and Lindsey’s.  All of the proceeds went to MDA.

The chapter was also recognized with a membership award and an outstanding advisor award.

Other awards won included the following.

Chapter Team Written Event Winners

• Community Service – Nicole Halkias and Courtney Roberts (third)

• Entrepreneurship Promotion – Charles Casper and Hannah Stidham (first)

• Learn and Earn Chapter – Matt Dollar and Austin Hall (first)

• Public Relations – Maxwell George, Jonathan Helms, and Michael Soronen (first)

Individual Role Play Winners

• Principles of Marketing- Mary White (third)

• Entrepreneurship Series- Justin Stephens (first)

• Human Resources Management- Tristan Mullen (first) and Tyler Ward (third)

• Marketing Communications- Sarah Margaret Veres (first)

Written Event Winners

• Business Services Operations Research- Brionna Howerton (first)

• Start-Up Business Plan- Ashley Carter (first)

• Independent Business Plan- Anthony Galvin and Casey Speed (first)

Professional Selling Event Winners

• Financial Consulting- Parker Hallmark (first) and Dalton Sewell (second)

• Professional Selling- Sean Frankowski (second)

Virtual Business Challenge Winners

• Virtual Business Challenge Round 1 Winner for Retailing – Austin Hall

• Virtual Business Challenge Round 1 Winners for Hotel – Anthony Galvan and Casey Speed

• Virtual Business Challenge Round 2 Winner for Retailing – Madeline Stewart

(This article originally appeared in the Saturday, March 17 issue of the Demopolis Times.)