This story was submitted by Ariana Gauba, grade 10.
From April 21-26, more than 40 Harker DECA members attended the International Career Development Conference (ICDC), at the Orlando Convention Center.
“ICDC was a truly unique experience where I got to meet new people and network with people across the globe!” said Harker DECA’s 2023-2024 VP of Public Relations Gabriel Jacob Li, grade 10.
Throughout the conference, chapter members explored Orlando, visited Disney’s Epcot Park and Universal Studios, and competed in their events. Harker DECA was extremely competitively successful, having multiple teams placed in the top 5, including Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making and Franchise Business Plan.
This story was submitted by Ariana Gauba, grade 10.
More than 120 Harker DECA members attended the regional Silicon Valley Career Development Conference (SVCDC), held Jan. 6-8 at the Santa Clara Marriott. SVCDC officially kicked off this year’s competitive season and consisted of testing, roleplay and written presentations, as well as speeches from the state officer team and the election of this year’s California DECA vice president of Silicon Valley.
“This SVCDC was a really memorable experience,” said CEO Anika Muddu, grade 12. “It was our first completely back-to-normal regional conference after COVID, so the energy was amazing, and I could really tell that everyone gave it their all. It was an amazing experience for our first-year members, and I’m incredibly proud of the chapter’s competitive success!”
During the opening ceremony, California DECA’s VP of Silicon Valley, Vineeta Muvvala, and VP of leadership, Nitin Jaladanki, introduced the conference, went through the schedule for the weekend, and introduced this year’s theme, “Get the Edge.” They also honored the late Pam McKenney, who was a crucial part of California DECA. Attendees also listened to speeches from the candidates for this year’s VP of Silicon Valley, one of which is Harker DECA’s director of written events, sophomore Emily Mitnick.
“The Silicon Valley conference was a great experience for me as a candidate because I got to meet and talk to hundreds of students in the span of three days. I had never given a speech to over 100 people before, so presenting my speech to over 800 students and teachers was an important milestone,” Mitnick said. “The two other candidates were both so friendly, and I couldn’t have been happier to spend my time getting to know them and becoming friends with them.”
The next day was dedicated to competition. All competitors participated in their roleplay and written presentations. Harker DECA competed in a wide variety of events, including individual series and team decision-making roleplays, as well as Entrepreneurship, Professional Selling, Integrated Marketing, Operations Research plans and more.
“SVCDC definitely aided in building my confidence when competing. From the time I spent practicing, presenting, and competing there, I built upon my speaking skills and expanded my overall knowledge of business management. Having a competition locally made me more comfortable in the environment,” said attendee Minal Jalil, grade 9.
The final day of SVCDC consisted of awards ceremonies. Students made their way to the grand ballroom on Sunday morning for the Mini Awards Ceremony, where many Harker DECA chapter members were recognized for their test and presentation scores. Harker was extremely successful, with many students becoming finalists and 35 teams placing in the top three for their events.
“The conference itself was a great experience and I really enjoyed learning, presenting my ideas, and spending time with friends. Placing first in my event was one of the best feelings because it felt like all the work I had put into my project had finally paid off,” said sophomore Sahil Varma, a first-place winner in Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling.
“I am so proud of each and every student that competed in this conference,” said Juston Glass, Harker business and entrepreneurship teacher and chapter advisor. “It was obvious that all competitors worked extremely hard on their presentations, and there is no doubt that we got the edge at this conference! From winning glass to Emily being elected VP of Silicon Valley, this conference is definitely a memorable one. I can’t wait to see the great things Harker will do at SCDC!”
Top three award winners are as follows:
First Place:
– Joy Hu, grade 9: Integrated Marketing Campaign – Event
– Sahil Varma, grade 10: Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling
– Claire Luo, grade 11: Professional Selling; Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series
– Sathvik Chundru, grade 11: Innovation Plan
– Annmaria Antony and Grace Hoang, both grade 12; Independent Business Plan
– Ashley Hong and Metrica Shi, both grade 11: Franchise Business Plan
– Tanisha Singh, grade 11: Business Service Operations Research
– Valerie Li, grade 10: Buying and Merchandising Operations Research
– Alicia Ran, grade 10, Tiana Salvi, grade 10: Finance Operations Research
– Meishin Yen and Medha Yarlagadda, both grade 11: Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research
– Saahira Dayal, grade 10: Automotive Services Marketing Series
– Sanaa Bhorkar, grade 10: Business Services Marketing Series
– Meishin Yen, grade 11: Hotel and Lodging Management Series
– Andrew Au and Edward Huang, both grade 11: Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making
– Ariana Gauba and Shaila Tandon, both grade 10: Travel and Tourism Team Decision Making
Second Place:
– Shiven Balaji, grade 10: Integrated Marketing Campaign – Product
– Caleb Tang, Jonathan Wang and Bowen Xia, all grade 10: Franchise Business Plan
– Krish Arora, grade 9: Principles of Finance
– Maya Affaki, grade 10: Hotel and Lodging Management Series
– Chloe Lee, grade 11: Marketing Communications Series
– Caleb Tang, grade 10: Quick Serve Restaurant Management Series
– Roshan Amurthur and Angelina Antony, grade 9: Marketing Management Team Decision Making
Third Place:
– Saahira Dayal, grade 10: Financial Consulting
– Allison Huang, and Ruhi Banerjee, both grade 9: Buying and Merchandising Operations Research
– Gary Jin, grade and Jason Yi, both grade 10: Sports and Entertainment Marketing Operations Research
– Joy Hu, grade 9: Principles of Business Management and Administration
– Aashvi Ravi, grade 9: Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
– Sophia Ou, grade 9: Principles of Marketing
– Alicia Ran, grade 10: Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series
– Vedant Balachandran, grade 10: Food Marketing Series
– Keren Eisenberg, grade 10: Marketing Communications Series
– Medha Yarlagadda, grade 10: Restaurant and Food Service Management Series
– Grace Hoang and Annmaria Antony, both grade 12: Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making
– Gary Jin, grade and Jason Yi, both grade 10: Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making
Last week, TuffToy founders Rohan Gorti, Arin Jain and Zubin Khera, all grade 12, were named the winners of the California DECA Business Pitch Challenge. Over the summer, the three won the National Pitch Competition in Chicago for their energetic and creative pitch of TuffToy, which sells durable, high-quality dog toys. Each of the students will receive a trophy for placing in the top three.
This story was submitted by Ariana Gauba, grade 10.
On Aug. 13-14, more than 50 incoming ninth graders participated in Harker DECA’s ninth annual DECA Launch. The event focused on introducing students to Harker’s business and entrepreneurship program and the competitive events that DECA offers. By listening to officer-led presentations, engaging in hands-on activities, and taking part in mock competitions, students were able to gain a better understanding of what DECA is and create connections and memories — all in just two days.
“DECA Launch provides the perfect experience for our grade 9 class to get their first taste of the upper school and explore a new interest all at once. Through our mini campus tour and workshop by our upperclassmen mentors, we got to introduce ninth graders to the environment they’ll be immersed in for the next four years. Along with the opening activities, Launch hosted two mock DECA events: an Innovation Challenge and a Roleplay Tournament. Through these competitions, students were able to become a DECA competitor for the weekend and experience the atmosphere of an actual conference. Another great thing about Launch are the friendships. It’s always great to see bonds being forged and connections being made between the students by the end of the weekend. The other officers and I have made some of our most meaningful friendships here at DECA and we’re so excited to continue expanding the community to welcome our new members this year,” said senior Anika Muddu, CEO of Harker DECA.
As students arrived on Saturday morning, officers gave them name tags and swag bags. After enjoying breakfast, attendees made their way into the Nichols Hall auditorium for the opening ceremony.
Muddu and executive vice president Rohan Gorti, grade 12, kicked off the event by giving a formal introduction and presentation to the ninth graders about DECA on the international and schoolwide levels. After that, attendees had the chance to hear from former vice president of competitions Bryan Zhang ʼ21, who provided his insight and experiences with DECA. Then, ICDC competitor and former director of roleplays Cynthia Wang, grade 11, gave her advice to the new students.
Following the opening ceremony, attendees met with their Launch groups and mentors to play an icebreaker game called the marshmallow challenge. As they tried to create the tallest towers with spaghetti noodles, marshmallows and tape, they learned about the importance of working with a team.
Then, attendees took a tour of the upper school campus. After arriving at the innovation center, they listened to an introductory presentation, and officers gave presentations about the five competitive event clusters of DECA: Business Management and Administration, Hospitality and Tourism, Finance, Marketing and Entrepreneurship.
“Cluster presentations are one of the most important presentations of DECA Launch as they explain each cluster in depth and the events that go with it, which help ninth graders narrow down their options,” said director of roleplays Sanaa Bhorkar, grade 10.
Next was lunch, followed by the introduction of the Innovation Challenge — a shortened version of the Entrepreneurship Innovation Plan event that DECA offers. Director of written events Emily Mitnick, grade 10, introduced how to write an executive summary and create a cohesive slideshow presentation. She also introduced this year’s theme — niches — and explained the importance of niches within target markets of a company.
“The DECA Launch inspired me to think outside of the box with a new company pitch and to think on the spot during Roleplays. I learned so much about business and entrepreneurship during just these two days!” said Sophia Bagley, grade 9.
“The Innovation Challenge represented everything DECA has to offer: the creative freedom to communicate our ideas, the extremely supportive community to lean on and learn from, and the endless choices we are privileged enough to receive in our various pursuits,” said Pavitra Kasthuri, grade 9.
For the remainder of the day, students began to brainstorm what product or service they would like to create for the project. Day one concluded with a quick closing about what to expect for day two and commendations.
“DECA wasn’t something I thought I’d be interested in, but after attending the Launch, I think I found something that I would really enjoy doing. I’m so excited to join this program, and I can’t wait to attend future conferences!” said Helen Gu, grade 9.
Day two started bright and early with a cereal bar for breakfast. Next, students had the opportunity to hear from chapter advisor Juston Glass about this year’s new membership theme, “Get the Edge.” He also highlighted Harker’s business and entrepreneurship programs. Additionally, seniors Rohan Gorti and Zubin Khera, founders of TuffToy — a dog toy company started in Harker’s incubator program — gave a presentation about their company and experience with Harker’s entrepreneurship class.
After a short stretch break, the competitions subteam introduced a Kahoot! with questions that might appear on their future examinations. Subsequently, Bhorkar gave a roleplay tips and tricks workshop and performed a live roleplay. After that, attendees listened to a written events workshop as well as a graphic design workshop presented by the public relations subteam.
Then, students continued to work on their innovation plan in their groups. After lunch, students continued to work on their projects until the mock roleplay competitions. Mentors came to teach students about how to present a roleplay, and in pairs each attendee had the opportunity to perform in a mock competition.
“I see real potential in the Class of 2026, not just regarding roleplays, but in general. I can’t wait to see what they achieve in the next four years!” said mentor Sam Parupudi, grade 10.
Shortly after, arrived and enjoyed dinner before attending the alumni panel in the auditorium. Once hearing a summary of Launch from Gorti and VP of operations Chloe Lee, grade 11, they had the opportunity to talk to four alumni Shania Wang ʼ19, Rohan Varma ʼ21, Gianna Chan ʼ22 and Lucas Wang ʼ17 about their experiences with DECA throughout their high school years and beyond.
As the alumni panel concluded, students joined their parents in the auditorium and presented their innovation plans. As the judges calculated their scores, students and parents watched the Launch recap video, highlighting the success of the attendees over the course of the weekend. DECA Launch 2022 concluded with closing remarks from Mr. Glass and an awards ceremony highlighting the attendees’ successes.
“DECA Launch this year was a huge success,” said Glass. “Both the officer team and the attendees worked extremely hard and took on challenges with open arms. I was impressed with the class of 2026’s DECAcation and the amazing ideas they came up with in just two days. I know we are going to achieve great things in the upcoming year, and let’s get the edge!”
Winners are as follows (all students are grade 9):
Roleplay Tournament:
First Place: Arushi Sahasi and Kimi Yashar
Second Place: Brenna Ren and Tiffany Zhu
Third Place: Amishi Gupta and Yena Yu
Others in Top 10: Mindy Truong and Tanvi Sivakumar, Farhan Ansari and Krish Arora, Ishan Mysore and Ethan Lei, Carissa Wu and Helen Gu, Sahil Jain and Krish Goenka, Pavitra Kasthuri and Aya Sugaya, Celina Xu and Jingjing Liang.
Innovation Challenge:
Most Innovative: Mihir Gupta, Carissa Wu, Helen Gu, Sophia Bagley, Justin Yang, Pavitra Kasthuri
Best Presentation: Samuel Tong, Yena Yu, Janam Chahal, Minal Jalil, David Li, Victoria Ma, MacEnzie Blue
The 2021-22 Harker DECA officer team was awarded first place in DECA’s Lead4Change Challenge. Lead4Change is an organization that promotes student leadership and teaches important skills such as communication, problem-solving, collaboration and critical thinking through lessons and challenges. Specifically, the Lead4Change Challenge asked participants to enter a submission where each team solved a problem or promoted a cause. These included a detailed action plan, an elevator pitch, reflections, graphical representations of the project process and much more. The $2,000 grant received from this award will be donated to a chosen charity. The team is made up of co-CEOs Gigi Chan and Clarice Wang, both grade 12; VP of operations Arin Jain, grade 11; VP of finance Trisha Variyar, grade 11; VP of public relations Catherine He, grade 12; VP of competitions Anika Muddu, grade 11; director of membership Chloe Lee, grade 10; director of community engagement Indigo Lee, grade 11; director of technology: Shreeya Merchia, grade 10; director of communications: Claire Luo, grade 10; director of roleplays Cynthia Wang, grade 10; and director of written events Kaitlyn Wang, grade 10
Chapter advisor Juston Glass said, “I’m super proud of this year’s officer team for their continual efforts to lead and inspire others for both change and making the world a better place. We are especially excited for the Lead4Change program and all that it does to teach and guide our students in improving their communities one day at a time.”
From Jan. 7-9 the Harker DECA chapter participated in the Silicon Valley Career Development Conference (SVCDC), the first competitive conference of the year. The transition back to the in-person environment sparked excitement in the community, as the event garnered over 120 signups. The weekend consisted of written and roleplay presentations in front of professional judges, networking opportunities and motivational speeches from California DECA’s State Officer Team.
On the first day of the conference, each student took exams in their respective clusters: Marketing, Business Management and Administration, Finance, Hospitality and Tourism, or Business Administration Core. Later that evening, SVCDC kicked off with the opening session in the Grand Ballroom. California DECA’s vice president of Silicon Valley, Tim Jing, announced the theme of the year, “Maximize Your Momentum,” and encouraged all Silicon Valley DECA members to do so while at the conference. The opening session closed with a talent show featuring two acts from the Harker DECA chapter. Sophomores Chloe Lee and Kaitlyn Wang and junior Anika Muddu performed an acoustic version of “Gone” by Rosé, while sophomore Shreeya Merchia sang a powerful rendition of “Red” by Taylor Swift.
The next morning, roleplay events began, which primarily consist of team decision-making, individual series, principles and personal financial literacy roleplays. Soon after, members competed in their written events where they gave 15-minute presentations in entrepreneurship, integrated marketing campaign, professional selling or business operations research categories. For the remainder of the afternoon, students socialized with friends and explored restaurants nearby.
On Sunday, the mini awards ceremony recognized competitors who performed exceptionally well in the testing, roleplay or presentation subcategories of their events.
“I honestly was so shocked when I received the awards, but I was extremely happy that my hard work paid off and I was able to perform well in my events. In the end it was a great and thrilling experience,” said Saahira Dayal, grade 9, who placed second overall in Principles of Business Management and Administration.
Later, during the grand awards ceremony, a total of 20 Harker teams placed in the top three overall for their events, while many more earned spots in the top 10 awards.
Overall, despite the effects of COVID-19, the conference was a huge success. It provided attendees with a fantastic experience that provided valuable insights into their competitive events and a special chance to forge new friendships.
“I’m incredibly proud of all the officers and attendees for adapting to the new restrictions and environment at this conference. It was great to see how much dedication everyone put into their competitive events, and I can’t wait to maximize our momentum at the State and International conferences this year!” said Juston Glass, Harker DECA’s chapter advisor.
Members placing in the top three are as follows:
First Place:
Shreeya Merchia, grade 10, and Anika Muddu, grade 11: Sports and Entertainment Operations Research
Marcus Blennemann, grade 9: Principles of Finance
Second Place:
Chloe Lee and Kaitlyn Wang, both grade 10: Marketing Team Decision Making
Bowen Xia, grade 9: Principles of Finance
Tanisha Singh, grade 10: Entrepreneurship Series
Medha Yarlagadda, grade 10: Restaurant and Food Service Management Series
Claire Luo, grade 10: Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series
Saahira Dayal, grade 9: Principles of Business Management
Third Place:
Chloe Lee, Kaitlyn Wang and Cynthia Wang, all grade 10: Integrated Marketing Campaign- Event
Marcus Blennemann and Nelson Gou, both grade 9: Entrepreneurship Innovation Plan
Catherine He, grade 12: International Business Plan
Saahira Dayal, grade 9: Franchise Business Plan
Jonathan Wang, grade 9: Principles of Finance
Valerie Li, grade 9: Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research
Ashwin Kuppahally and Adrian Liu, both grade 10: Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making
Bowen Xia, Caleb Tang and Jonathan Wang, both grade 9: Finance Operations Research
Sanaa Bhorkar, grade 9: Principles of Business Management
Justin Chen, grade 10: Business Finance Series
Meishin Yen, grade 10: Hotel and Lodging Management Series
Catherine He, grade 12: Restaurant and Food Service Management Series
Last month, Harker’s DECA chapter hosted its first fall conference, during which 50 grade 9 DECA members from the Silicon Valley district prepared for the upcoming DECA competitive season.
Attendees enjoyed a light breakfast before activities began in Nichols Hall. Following some introductory presentations and icebreaker activities, the students took part in a testing exercise modeled after tests given at DECA conferences. “I was excited that a lot of our first-year members got to experience this before their first competitive conference,” said junior Anika Muddu, Harker DECA’s vice president of competitions.
After lunch, students learned about DECA roleplay tournaments and developed responses to a prompt about ethics in the hotel industry. After presenting their responses to volunteer judges, the students received feedback on how to improve. “The roleplay tournament was a great first introduction to what the roleplay experience would be in a real conference. It’s definitely a different feeling when you know that you want to do well and place,” said Gabe Li, grade 9.
Later, the students had the opportunity to take part in workshops on a variety of topics. Stanford lecturer Matt Abrahams hosted a workshop on persuasive speaking, while entrepreneur and angel investor Suneela Muddu presented on how to pitch a business. Other workshops included “Investing 101” by Cisco engineer Yuri Mitnick and “Social Media Marketing,” delivered by Chegg social media manager Daisy Zhang.
During the closing ceremony, awards for the day’s competitions were doled out. Awardees were as follows:
Testing:
First Place: Cindy Yu
Second Place: Emily Mitnick, Gia Emelie, Gary Jin
Third Place: Shiven Balaji, Valerie Li, Ruhan Sahasi
Roleplay Tournament:
First Place: Sam Parupudi
Second Place: Tiana Salvi
Third Place: Saahira Dayal
Top 10 (Listed Alphabetically): Maya Affaki, Saahira Dayal, Ariana Gauba, Gabe Li, Valerie Li, Lauren Lin, Sam Parupudi, Tiana Salvi, Shaila Tandon, Caleb Tang
On Aug. 14 and 15, the Harker DECA chapter hosted its eighth annual Harker DECA Launch event. A total of 70 incoming freshmen from the Class of 2025 attended the event, which introduced them to Harker’s business and entrepreneurship department and the DECA experience as a whole. The weekend consisted of alumni speakers, workshops, mock competitions and informative lectures.
On Saturday morning, the attendees socialized after a year of virtual learning while enjoying a breakfast of Noah’s Bagels. They then attended the opening ceremony inside Nichols Auditorium, where students were first introduced to the DECA experience through presentations and by listening to the experiences of alumni Bryan Zhang ‘21, former Harker DECA vice president of competitions, and current DECA member Ada Praun-Petrovic, grade 11.
Next, students participated in an icebreaker challenge led by director of membership Chloe Lee, grade 10, in order to get to know each other in preparation for the weekend. The innovation challenge teams, groups of five to six attendees and led by a Harker DECA officer, worked together to build the tallest free-standing structure using marshmallows, raw spaghetti and string. Following the icebreaker activity, attendees were brought into the Innovation Center, the home base of the B.E. department, where they learned more about DECA, from the competitive experience to the business clusters available in competitions. To further immerse the attendees in the competitive clusters, officers were stationed at five locations around the IC to speak about the five clusters that the students rotated through: business management and administration, hospitality and tourism, marketing, entrepreneurship and finance.
After lunch from Pizza My Heart, the 12 innovation challenge teams participated in a scavenger hunt activity where they searched for officers located in various parts of the upper school campus and performed different tasks such as winning a game of rock, paper, scissors or making a secret handshake.
“The Scavenger Hunt was really enjoyable because the challenges were designed to help us get to know our teammates better. It helped me learn the ins and outs of my teammates, which definitely helped us during the innovation challenge,” said Daniel Chen, grade 9.
After reconvening back at the IC, the competitions subteam, consisting of vice president of competitions and strategy Anika Muddu, grade 11, director of written events Kaitlyn Wang, grade 10, and director of roleplays Cynthia Wang, grade 10, introduced the innovation challenge. For the rest of the afternoon, the students worked in their teams to come up with a new idea that would fit under the umbrella of social entrepreneurship,” the theme for the 2021 DECA Launch Innovation Challenge.
“As one of the first in-person events to introduce freshmen to the Harker upper school, and for some, to the Harker community as a whole, I think DECA launch attendees were welcomed into the school in an exciting way. Through the innovation challenge, students became more familiar with DECA and the Harker B.E. department’s offerings. The other officers and I were so impressed by their work in the Innovation Challenge and are proud to welcome them all into the community,” said senior Gigi Chan, co-CEO.
The following day, chapter advisor Juston Glass gave an overview of the business and entrepreneurship department and the programs it includes. In fact, seniors Camilla Lindh, Ishaan Parate and Simren Kochhar were brought in to present their own business, H2OOT, which they had developed through the incubator class at Harker.
The officers conducted a deeper dive on the competitive experience of DECA through three main facets: the mentorship program, roleplay events and written events. The students watched a live roleplay and were guided through the various written event selection choices. They then participated in a game of Kahoot to simulate the business administration core exam with questions selected from past years’ tests.
“First-year members are usually a bit intimidated by roleplays, so I hope my live roleplay gave them more confidence in their abilities,” said Cynthia Wang.
Next, vice president of public relations Catherine He, grade 12, director of communications Claire Luo, grade 10, and director of technology Shreeya Merchia, grade 10, held a Graphic Design Workshop to aid the attendees in the creation of their Innovation Challenge slide decks and executive summaries.
After having lunch, the students were taught the tricks and tips of preparing and presenting a roleplay through the Roleplay Immersion Session hosted by the DECA mentors, leading into a roleplay tournament. The groups spent the rest of the afternoon finishing and polishing presentations and designing various materials before they pitched their final product.
“I remember coming to DECA Launch as a shy, confused freshman, so it was very exciting to watch them catch on quickly and contribute great ideas while running through a roleplay and giving them advice,” said mentor Victoria Han, grade 12.
In the evening, parents and attendees first listened to a panel consisting of alumni, including Haley Tran ‘17, Lucas Wang ‘17, Shania Wang ‘19, Evan Cheng ‘20, Rishi Dange ‘20 and Elaine Zhai ‘21, about their DECA experiences. Later, each of the 12 groups presented their innovative products in detail, including integral business components such as marketing plans, cost structures and financial analysis.
“I thought presenting the innovation challenge was a fun way to learn, and the feedback we received from the multiple experienced alumni was really helpful. It was really fulfilling to present what we’d worked on for the weekend. DECA launch was the perfect start to my high school experience,” said Sophia Liu, grade 9.
DECA launch was concluded with the awards ceremony, which recognized the top ten roleplay teams as well as the awards for the innovation challenge.
“I was so impressed by every single one of the attendees; their energy and enthusiasm made the event fun and exciting for everyone. I can’t wait for the school year to maximize our momentum and see what they all achieve!” said Glass.
Students that won awards are as follows (all grade 9):
Roleplay Tournament::
1st Place: Hanyang Shang, Vedant Yadav
2nd Place: Daniel Chen, Alex Zhong
3rd Place: Veer Sahasi, Ruhan Sahasi
Innovation Challenge:
Most Feasible: Khanlinh Tran, Young Min, Andrew Liang, Shreyas Chakravarty, Ruhan Sahasi, Veer Sahasi
Best Presentation: Daniel Chen, Alex Zhong, Anika Pallapothu, Norah Mehanna, Navya Samuel, Tiana Salvi
Most Creative: Andre Lu, Gabriel Li, Rithika Yamasani, Cindy Yu, Rahul Yalla, Gary Jin
Best Overall: Daniel Dorfman, Charlize Wang, Claire Cheng, Nikhil Pesati, Maya Affaki, Sanaa Bhorkar
From April 12 to May 6, Harker DECA members competed virtually in the annual International Career Development Conference (ICDC). With 46 competitors and two first place champions, Harker DECA had the best ICDC results in chapter history. An exceptional 12 finalists placed in the top 20 for the preliminary round. Out of those 12, eight finalists were in the top 10 final round.
“ICDC and just DECA in general are both very exciting. It allowed not just my team but the entire DECA community to come closer together. I am looking forward to another DECA season,” said Armaan Thakker, grade 10.
This year, Harker DECA introduced the DECA alumni coaches program to help students excel in their competitions. The officer team reached out to several competitively successful alumni and former officers including Aditi Ghalsasi ‘20, Mahi Kolla ‘20, Lucas Wang ‘17, Evan Cheng ‘20, Shania Wang ‘19, Riya Gupta ‘19, Rishi Dange ‘20, Radhika Jain ‘20 and Phil Han ‘20. Many of the alumni continued their education at top universities including the University of Southern California, New York University and University of Pennsylvania. Each alumni was assigned to a competitive team and was required to meet with them at least three times to prepare for their competitions. Overall the inaugural program dramatically improved the success of Harker DECA’s competitors this year at ICDC.
“I think one of the biggest factors that contributed to how far we got at ICDC was the fact that we had an alumni, Radhika, as our mentor. It was even more special for us personally because she had mentored us in her junior and senior year, so it was great to be able to work with her again. Even though we only met four times for about an hour each, her feedback was so helpful, and we could actually feel ourselves improving each time. I definitely feel like Emily [Zhou] and I wouldn’t have been able to get as far as we did without the alumni mentorship program,” said junior Emily Tan.
Due to the pandemic, ICDC was held virtually this year. For the preliminary round, competitors were asked to submit their presentations in video form to a portal. However, for the final round of competitions, members joined a Zoom call with a judge to perform their presentations live.
“ICDC was an incredible experience, and we were so excited to represent Harker during the final round of competition. Our previous rounds were recorded videos, so being able to present a live presentation in front of a judge was a thrilling experience, especially since this was our first year competing in DECA,” said sophomore Annmaria Antony.
Despite most of the conference being online, Harker DECA hosted a viewing party of the grand awards session on May 6. Members were invited to the Innovation Center on the upper school campus to watch the livestream of the ceremony and were given an opportunity to socialize with their peers in person. They enjoyed snacks while watching and Chipotle for dinner. This event emulated an in-person conference experience and allowed competitors to celebrate their wins together as a chapter.
Regardless of obstacles that came with competing online, members had a thrilling and enriching experience participating in ICDC. Congratulations to all of our competitors!
“These students put in countless hours and battled out seemingly endless obstacles and levels of competition to get to this point. I am so very proud of our unprecedented year resulting in not just one but two international champion teams. We had the most successful year to date for our chapter and I can’t be more proud of our Harker DECA Eagles, officer team and student mentors for all of the effort, time, grit and passion they demonstrated throughout the year. Go Eagles!” said Juston Glass, Harker DECA chapter advisor.
Winners and finalists are as follows:
First Place:
– Sasvath Ramachandran, grade 11; Virtual Business Challenge – Accounting
– Andrew Sun and Aditya Singhvi, grade 12; Hospitality Services Team Decision Making
Second Place:
– Grace Hoang and Annmaria Antony, grade 10; Marketing Management Team Decision Making
From Feb. 22-25, 139 students from The Harker School DECA Chapter attended the 2021 State Career Development Conference (SCDC). This conference was held virtually due to COVID-19, and students competed by submitting recordings of their events. To simulate the in-person conference feel, SCDC also featured Career Prep Academy Workshops and a Harker DECA chapter social. Overall, Harker performed admirably, with 59 overall finalists and 28 top four written event and top five role-play winners.
“SCDC was the culmination of Harker DECA’s efforts this past year, and I am extremely proud of how far our students have come,” said senior Anvitha Tummala, Harker DECA co-CEO. “Everyone has demonstrated such commendable adaptability with a virtual DECA experience, and due to a competitively successful SCDC, I’m excited to see our chapter compete at ICDC next month!”
The conference started off with the opening ceremony, which our chapter watched through a livestream on Zoom. Students were motivated to find their purpose by keynote speaker Quinn Tempest, a successful entrepreneur who has dedicated herself to helping people reach their life goals. Tempest said, “never stop asking yourself big important questions” and “purpose is the ‘why’ that drives what you do.”
“She discussed her personal motivators and what led her to be a successful entrepreneur, inspiring me to search for my own purpose in the work I do,” said Clarice Wang, grade 11, Harker DECA VP of operations. Since this competition was held online, submissions worked similarly to SVCDC, and members were given two days to record their written presentations and roleplays, put the documents in a Google Drive folder, and turn in the link to the DECA submissions portal.
“Though I’d much rather be presenting in person, it isn’t all bad! I liked that we could re-record if we made a small mistake, and the conference went very smoothly,” said Shreeya Merchia, grade 9.
SCDC activities continued with a Harker DECA Chapter social which took place on March 5. The Harker DECA Officer team prepared a variety of fun and engaging breakout-room activities such as baking cookies, playing Among Us, watching “Wandavision,” participating in sports trivia and more. Members were allowed to hop between as many of the bonding activities as they liked, the most popular being “Wandavision.”
“Although this is our second time competing in an online format, the Harker DECA chapter has been preparing for a virtual competition the entire year through Zoom study sessions. Students submitted videos of their presentations and PDFs of their business plans that were judged asynchronously,” said senior Bryan Zhang, Harker DECA VP of competitions. “Despite not being able to have live competition, we were still able to simulate business case studies and develop ourselves professionally. The virtual format also demanded higher levels of creativity and teamwork to stay ahead of the curve of other teams, which I am sure will benefit all competitors in the long term.”
The competition concluded with an awards ceremony hosted by California DECA on Thursday, March 11. Members joined a livestream as the California DECA officer team recognized advisors and announced ICDC (International Career Development Conference) qualifiers. To simulate stage recognition at an in-person conference, winners were spotlighted when their names were announced. Along with our chapter members’ achievements, Harker DECA was recognized for achieving Gold Level Certification for the Chapter Awards Program, as well as Thrive Level for the Chapter Campaigns and Membership Campaign.
“From kicking off the conference with a motivational message about purpose, our competitors no doubt found their purpose while competing at SCDC. I’m incredibly proud of the officer team for helping run this conference smoothly, and I am looking forward to making more conference memories at ICDC!” said chapter advisor Juston Glass. “Congratulations to all of our ICDC qualifiers. Go Harker Eagles!”
Members qualifying for ICDC are as follows:
1st Place
• Shreeya Merchia, grade 9; Principles of Marketing
• Vienna Parnell, grade 11; Hotel and Lodging Management Series
• Vedant Kenkare, grade 11; Marketing Communications Series
• Bodhi Saha, grade 11, Kaden Kapadia, grade 11; Sports Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making
Plan
• Ananya Bammi, grade 10, Saavi Kumar, grade 10; Finance Operations Research
• Miki Mitarai, grade 9, Medha Yarlagadda, grade 9, Meishin Yen, grade 9; Hospitality and Tourism Operations
Research
• Margaret Cartee, grade 9; Principles of Business Management and Administration
• Bryan Zhang, grade 12; Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series
• Emily Zhou, grade 11, Emily Tan, grade 11; Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making
• Aditya Singhvi, grade 12, Andrew Sun, grade 12; Hospitality Services Team Decision Making
• Annmaria Antony, grade 10, Grace Hoang, grade 10; Marketing Management Team Decision Making
3rd Place
• Emily Tan, grade 11, Emily Zhou, grade 11; Business Services Operations Research
• Leisha Devisetti, grade 10; Sports and Entertainment Marketing Operations Research
• Cynthia Wang, grade 9; Principles of Marketing
• Rohan Varma, grade 12; Automotive Services Marketing Series
4th Place
• Max Xing, grade 9, Carey Chang, grade 9, Kevin Zhang, grade 9; Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research
• Ananya Bammi, grade 10, Saavi Kumar, grade 10; Financial Services Team Decision Making
• April Sun, grade 11; Restaurant and Food Services Management
• April Sun, grade 11; Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling
• Camilla Lindh, grade 11; Quick Serve Restaurant Management Series
5th Place
• Simren Kochhar, grade 11; Entrepreneurship Individual Series
• Sara Wan, grade 10; Human Resources Management Series
• Sujith Pakala, grade 11; Quick Serve Restaurant Management
• Victoria Han, grade 11, Catherine He, grade 11; Travel and Tourism Team Decision Making
• Elvis Han, grade 11, Melody Luo, grade 11; Marketing Management Team Decision Making