Two Badger High School DECA teams were selected from more than 2,600 entrants to compete in a challenge at the International Career Development Conference and placed second and 15th out of 16 teams.
Seventeen Badger students participated in the International Distributive Education Clubs of America Career Development Conference in Anaheim, Calif., from April 23 to 28.
For the first time in chapter history, Badger students competed in the H&R Block Dollars and Sense Challenge.
The event required student teams of three to use a personal finance computer simulation to make sound financial decisions to create a character who can earn the greatest net worth. More than 2,600 teams around the country registered for the event. The top two teams from the 13-state Central Region qualified in each of two rounds of competition to advance to the International Career Development Conference.
Badger’s teams of Jacob Besenhofer, Emily Mack and Emily Bakken and Gavin Denecke, Tom Ritzman, and Victoria Bouras earned a $500 travel stipend to compete at the international conference from H&R Block. Once at the conference, they competed in a double-elimination tournament with the top 16 teams from around the world.
Besenhofer, Mack, and Bakken finished the tournament in 15th place. Denecke, Ritzman, and Vouras won five consecutive matches to advance to the international finals. In the final round, they competed for 15 minutes against the top four teams and placed 2nd overall in the event. All three team members earned a $5,000 college scholarship courtesy of H&R Block. The conference was Ritzman’s first international competition, but Denecke and Bouras also made it to the international finals in another event last year.
More than 16,000 DECA members from around the world including all 50 American states, Canada, Guam, and Germany converged at the conference this year to compete as the best business and marketing leaders of tomorrow. This is a great way to showcase the talent and business drive of students across the world, from this they will be able to build on what they know from different countries and get to know how businesses are dealt with in a variety of areas. Those that are hoping to do business internationally, will be able to use resources such as Japanese translation services, for example, to help with communication and connection.
Badger students competed in individual and team series events. Students had to take a written test and complete a role-play scenario in their chosen competition area. The competition areas are connected to career pathways that allow students to begin learning foundational concepts, then those more specific to a career path, and finally those specific for an occupation.
The following students competed in these events:
• Principles of Hospitality and Tourism – freshman Josh Bakken;
• Leadership Development Academy- Voting Delegate – sophomore Caroline Carbonara and junior Cooper Bohn;
• H&R Block Dollars and Sense Challenge – sophomore Jacob Besenhofer; juniors Gavin Denecke, Victoria Bouras and Tom Ritzman; and seniors Emily Mack and Emily Bakken;
• School Based Enterprise Academy – sophomore Bridget Keefe and junior Derrick Buntrock;
• International Business Plan – senior Lulu Liang;
• Marketing Management – senior Sam Bruns;
• Buying and Merchandising Operations Research – seniors Jordan Dunn and Tristan Sproul;
• Food Marketing – senior Mikeala Suchocki; and
Sports and Entertainment Promotion Plan – senior Liberty Wieseman.
The students who qualified to compete at the conference earned top honors at the state conference in March.
