Ten Maplewood Career Center Marketing students competed in the DECA District Level Competition at the University of Akron on Jan. 24.

DECA is an organization that focuses on preparing emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. The high school division includes 200,000 members in 3,500 schools.

Maplewood students competed against students from eight other area school districts. Students had the opportunity to compete in one of a multitude of events that focused on available career paths in marketing. These fields included sports and entertainment marketing, professional selling, retail merchandising, principles of hospitality and tourism, food marketing, restaurant and food service management, automotive services marketing, accounting application and fashion merchandising promotion plan and many more.

Prior to the competition, students must complete a 100-question online test related to their field of marketing. On the day of the event, students are given a realistic job scenario to read, then have 10-15 minutes to prepare their ideas. They then present their ideas to a panel of industry expert judges.

Students’ overall scores are based on a combination of their online test score and in-person presentation.

Senior Anicia Chambers finished in first place in the Accounting Applications event. The following students finished in second place in their events: Seniors Kendall Stewart and Amir Jenkins, Fashion Merchandising Promotion Plan; Senior Noah Rotondo, Automotive Services Marketing; and Junior Kyle Fanin, Professional Selling. Junior Erica Musgrove finished in third place in the Retail Merchandising event. The following students finished in fourth place in their events: Junior Justin Kinsack, Food Marketing and Junior Kate-Lynn Pawlak, Restaurant and Food Service Management.

“Our students have put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to prepare for this competition,” said Mike Nieporte, marketing and management instructor. “We are proud of how well they all did in the district level event and look forward to seeing them compete at the state level in March.”

Students who finished in third place or better in their event qualified to move on to compete in the State Level Competition in Columbus on March 9 and 10.

“We applaud these ten outstanding students for their dedication and commitment to learning,” said Superintendent Randall Griffith. “We are proud to have them represent Maplewood Career Center at the district level and look forward to seeing what they can accomplish at the state level competition.”