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| Courtesy
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Marketing students from Boulder Creek
High School in Anthem and Cactus Shadows High School
in Scottsdale will advance to the International DECA
Career Development Conference in April after placing
third in their respective divisions during the state
competition. Pictured above top are Boulder Creek juniors
Yacine Boraie and Jessica Holtzen and sophomore Susie
Eckman. Pictured above bottom are Cactus Shadows seniors
Gretchen Conger, Danielle Puschak and Caitlin Boutin.
(Click
pictures for full size images)
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Marketing
students advance to international competition
by
Ambria Hammel
NORTH VALLEY - Six students from two high schools in the North
Valley recently proved they know enough about marketing to
beat out 1,400 competitors from Arizona and advance to the
international level to face off against 13,000 students from
five countries.
The students, three from the Marketing/Advanced Marketing
DECA class at Cactus Shadows High School in Scottsdale and
three from the DECA club at Boulder Creek High School in Anthem,
placed in the top three for their categories at the Arizona
DECA Career Development Conference and Competition held in
Phoenix March 7 8. Their success qualifies them for the international
competition to be held in Dallas in April.
The award marked the first for Boulder Creek whose cocurricular
club formed this school year to reinforce classroom learning.
Pam Barrier, the club's adviser, brought 14 students to the
state event and returned with 12 medals. "I felt like
we were pretty privileged," Barrier said.
Sophomore Susie Eckman placed third overall in the Restaurant
Full Service Management division, a category she chose to
get an inside look at the operation of eating establishments.
Anxious to gain a competitive edge, Eckman studied with Jim
Byrne, manager of Applebee's near Happy Valley. "I used
a lot of the information he gave me in our role play,"
she said.
The competition involved a role play evaluated by one to two
judges and a rigorous 100 question exam addressing marketing
fundamentals. "Those three that are going on, they excelled
in both," Barrier said.
Juniors
Yacine Boraie and Jessica Holtzen, working as a team, placed
third in Hospitality Services Management. Their role play
topic at the state competition was unavailable. At the regional
competition held in January, they addressed hotel accommodations
for a large group of handicapped individuals. Their ideas
included on and off site social activities, the installation
of ramps and the chartering of wheelchair accessible buses.
Gretchen Conger and Danielle Puschak, both seniors at Cactus
Shadows, placed third among the Travel and Tourism Management
teams. Puschak chose this category because she likes to travel,
but found the case study at the state competition difficult.
It involved transferring tourists by helicopter between the
Hawaiian islands. The company had a bad customer service reputation,
but her team sought to upgrade the company's service by repainting
the helicopters in vibrant colors and hiring and training
new employees.
As this
is Puschak's first year in DECA, qualification for the Dallas
competition was special. "I was excited because we competed
against so many people," s |
