Anaheim, California– From February, 27th, 2025 to Sunday, March 2nd, 2025, over 180 members from the Harker DECA chapter attended the most competitive State Career Development Conference (SCDC) ever recorded, with over 3000 attendees. Students competed in their events hoping to qualify for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). California DECA chapters united at the conference to engage in interactive workshops, forge valuable connections with fellow aspiring professionals, and demonstrate their professional growth. 

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“This year’s state conference was an unforgettable experience. Despite it being the most competitive conference we’ve ever attended, we were still able to maintain our competitive spirit. There were so many special highlights from the weekend from the immersive workshops to having as many as 44 people from our chapter placing as top finalists,” said Chief Executive Officer of Harker DECA, Sanaa Bhorkar. 

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On Thursday, February 27th, students traveled from SJC to Anaheim, California in three separate flight groups. Once everyone met at the hotel, students prepared for their knowledge tests which occurred later that afternoon. After settling into their rooms, all attendees proceeded to their testing sessions for the following clusters: Hospitality & Tourism, Business & Administration, Finance, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship. Some workshops available to students to hone their professional skills included: “Discover Your Leadership Voice” and “Ace Your Interview.”

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Following testing was the Opening Session. Kicking off the conference, Keynote Speaker, K.D. Wilson delivered an empowering speech about what it means to be a leader and inspire by example. Next was announcements from the California DECA State Officer Team, informing all attendees of key logistics and voting for next year’s state team. Harker DECA’s very own, Abigail Sachse (10), made a presence on stage, running for Vice President of Marketing for Team 75. 

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On Friday, February 28th, the roleplay events began with attendees competing in Individual Series, Principles, Personal Financial Literacy, and Team Decision Making events. Between presentations, students attended more workshops such as “Brand Yourself Like a Boss,” “Gear Up With Time Management,” “Find Your Future,” and more. Additionally, students took at least one protégé exam, a specific career pathway knowledge test. 

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After the conclusion of the competitive events, students were able to explore the Disneyland and California Adventure parks as a reward for their hard work throughout the conference. 

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Saturday, March 1st marked the second and final day of competitions. Students presented their written plans in events such as Business and Operations Research, Project Management, Entrepreneurship, Marketing Campaigns, and Professional Selling/Consulting. Upon completion of their presentations, students had free time to get food, spend time with friends, and finish homework before the next chapter meeting. 

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Later that evening was the Formal Awards Ceremony, where both individual competitors and chapters across California were commended for their efforts. From Harker, chapter advisor Michael Acheatel, was recognized as an outgoing board member. Many students from Harker also received awards for their presentation and testing scores in their events. 

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Sunday, March 2nd, marked the last day of the conference with students attending the Grand Awards Ceremony. Harker DECA contributed a large number of finalists, recognized as having the top scores in their events. Moreover, top four winners in written events and top five winners in roleplays will advance to the International Career Development Conference (ICDC).

Members placing in the Top 4 in Written Events and Top 5 in Roleplay Events are as follows:

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1st Place:

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Abby Wang (10), Elizabeth Zhang (10); Integrated Marketing Campaign Event 

Maya Affaki (12); Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling 

Naiya Daswani (12); Business Growth Plan 

Hannah Jiang (10), Joyce Zhang (10); Business Services Operations Research 

Chelsea Xie (10); Hotel and Lodging Management Series 

Nathaniel Idicula (10), David Kelly (10); Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making 

Timmy Chen (11), Alan Shen (11); Travel and Tourism Team Decision Making 

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2nd Place:

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Kimi Yashar (11), Koby Yu (11); Integrated Marketing Campaign Service 

Saahithi Koneru (10); Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling 

Annabel Huang (10), Aanya Mukherjee (10), Arshia Sankar (10); Buying and Merchandising 

Operations Research

Maya Affaki (12); Hotel and Lodging Management Series 

Audrey Hu (10); Quick Serve Restaurant Management Series 

Luke Wu (11);  Restaurant and Food Service Management Series

Amishi Gupta (11), Tanvi Sivakumar (11); Financial Services Team Decision Making 

Ishani Vadali (10), Lemeng Kong (10); Hospitality Services Team Decision Making 

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3rd Place:

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Bazigh Tahirzad (10); Financial Consulting 

Aanya Shah (11); Start-Up Business Plan 

Saahira Dayal (12); Automotive Services Marketing Series

Sanaa Bhorkar (12), Lauren Lin (12); Travel and Tourism Team Decision Making 

Ruhan Arora (11), Nicole Dean (10), Ronica Khattri (10); Financial Literacy Project 

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4th Place: 

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Isaac Liu (9); Professional Selling

Kimi Yashar (11); Business Services Marketing Series 

Caleb Tang (11); Quick Serve Restaurant Management Series 

Ian Lee (10), Sam Li (10); Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making 

Luke Wu (11), Robinson Zhang (11); Business Solutions Projects 

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5th Place: 

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Aanya Shah (11); Business Services Marketing Series 

Jonathan Wang (12); Restaurant and Food Service Management Series 

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Chapter awards received are as follows: 

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Membership Campaign: Thrive Level 

Chapter Campaigns: Thrive Level

Chapter Awards Program: Gold Level 

Largest Member Increase

Second Largest Chapter Membership

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About The Harker School DECA

Harker DECA is an International Competitive Business Organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in four fields of business: marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. Our DECA chapter integrates classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business, and promotes competition in order to prepare the next generation to be academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible, and experienced leaders.

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Contact Information

To learn more about this story, please contact:

Kai Nishimura, Director of Communications

27KaiN@students.harker.org

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