Anaheim, California– From Thursday, March 7th, 2024 to Sunday, March 10th, 2024, over 170 members of the Harker DECA chapter attended the State Career Development Conference (SCDC), competing in their events with the hopes of qualifying for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). DECA chapters across California gathered at the conference to display their professional growth, attend skill-building workshops, and network with like-minded peers. 

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“This year's SCDC was an outstanding success, and it's all thanks to the incredible support from our students, officers, chaperones, faculty, and parents! Their enthusiasm and dedication were truly the driving force behind the event's success, making the entire weekend seamless and immensely enjoyable for everyone involved,” said Claire Luo (12), Co-CEO of Harker DECA. “The collaborative effort and positive energy brought by each individual contributed to the sense of community throughout the conference.” 

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Early Thursday morning, students and chaperones gathered at SJC in three flight groups to make their way down to Anaheim. After arriving at the airport, members divided into shuttle groups to drive to the Anaheim Marriott, where the conference would take place. 

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After checking into their rooms and registering for the conference, all attendees proceeded to their testing sessions for the following clusters: Hospitality, Business and Administration, Finance, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship. Following testing, members attended workshops like Digital Branding or Dress to Impress. Finally, the Opening Sessions concluded the day by introducing the California State officers, including Harker’s very own Emily Mitnick as the Vice President of Silicon Valley. 

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Friday began with all roleplay events, including Individual Series, Principles, Personal Financial Literacy, and Team Decision Making events. Between their scheduled event times, all Harker DECA members attended another workshop and tested their business knowledge in Protege Exams in topics ranging from real estate to event planning. 

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Following roleplays, students were able to visit Disneyland or California Adventure with their friends as a break from a long day of competition. 

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Saturday marked the last full day of the conference and kicked off the written events competitions. During their free time, students had the opportunity to get lunch, catch up with friends in their hotel rooms, and complete homework before heading to the Mini Awards Ceremony in the evening. During the Mini Awards Ceremony, over 70 Harker teams were recognized for their competitive excellence in their events, establishing Harker to be one of the most successful chapters in attendance. 

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The next morning, students attended the Grand Awards Ceremony, which would officially qualify teams for the Internation Career Development Conference in April, being held right in Anaheim, California. The Top 10 finalists in each event were recognized but those who ranked Top 5 for roleplay events or Top 4 for written events would be eligible to represent California DECA at ICDC.

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Members qualifying for the International Career Development Conference are as follows:

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1st Place:

David Kelly (9), Professional Selling

Amishi Gupta (10), Franchise Business Plan

Arthur Wu (11), Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research

Abby Sachse (9), Principles of Business Management and Administration

Aanya Shah (10), Business Services Marketing

Andrew Au (12), Edward Huang (12), Buying & Merchandising Team Decision Making

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2nd Place:

Caleb Tang, Jonathan Wang, Bowen Xia (11), Franchise Business Plan

Aaron Ma (9), Principles of Finance

Lucas Chen (10), Marketing Communications Series

Gabe Li (11), Retail Merchandising Series

Ruhan Arora (10), Financial Literacy Project

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3rd Place:

Kaitlyn Wang, Chloe Lee, Cynthia Wang (12), Integrated Marketing Campaign Service

Tanvi Sivakumar (10), Financial Consulting

Andy Chung, Nelson Gou, Marcus Blennemann (11), Independent Business Plan

Claire Miao (12), Start-up Business Plan

David Kelly (9), Principles of Business Management and Administration

Jonathan Wang (11), Restaurant and Food Management Series

Eden Kelly, Janam Chahal (10), Hospitality Team Decision Making

Metrica Shi, Heidi Lu (12), Sports and Entertainment Team Decision Making

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4th Place:

Sriteja Kataru (11),  Independent Business Plan

Mariana Rai (12), Entrepreneur Series

Abby Sachse (9), Beibei Shen (9), Nicole Dean (9), Start Up Business Plan

Bazigh Tahirzad (9), Principles of Finance

Abby Wang (9), Principles of Marketing

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5th Place:

Chelsea Xie (9), Principles of Hospitality and Tourism

Andrew Au (12), Edward Huang (12),  Integrated Marketing Campaign Service

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