Verona High School sent the largest contingent in years to the DECA Central East District Conference earlier this month, and Verona’s business students did so well that seven of them are moving on to the state DECA contest in Atlantic City in March.
DECA (originally the Distributive Education Clubs Of America) is a business education club and its goal is to prepare students to be business leaders and entrepreneurs in fields such as marketing, finance, hospitality and management. The students participate in competitions that test their knowledge of everything from the principles of business management to sports and entertainment marketing. A typical competition includes a 100-question exam on some aspect of marketing, business or accounting, and then students participate in one or two role-playing exercises in their area of expertise. The VHS club is advised by teachers Angela Salisbury and Pam Burke.
VHS sent 27 competitors–nine teams and nine individual participants–to the Central East District Conference, which was held at Kean University on January 4. DECA recognizes the top three students or teams in each individual area and these competitors receive a trophy. Sofia Fiorita, who competed in apparel and accessories marketing, won first place in role play and second place overall in that category. Elise Sidali, who competed in principles of marketing, took third place in exam, first place in role play, and first place overall in the category. Kelly Nulty, who competed with Maria Vega in marketing management team decision making, scored second place in exam. Aidan Murphy and Maximillian Handler competed as a team in financial services decision making and took third place overall, with Murphy winning first place in exam and Handler winning third place in exam.
The results mean that Fiorita, Sidali, Murphy and Handler are moving on to the DECA High School State Career Development Conference at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City on March 4 to 6, along with David Karpinski
 and the team of Brooke Anquillare and Kylee Gallagher. Karpinski competed in sports and entertainment marketing
, while Anquillare and Gallagher competed in travel and tourism marketing management team decision making.
The other VHS students who competed in the local contest were:
Brianna Camp/Austin Frank: Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making

Christian Castner/Evan Fersch: Sports & Entertainment Marketing Management Team Decision
Making
Joseph Ciccolini: Retail Merchandising

Colleen Dennis/Maggie Gorman: Marketing Management Team Decision Making

Alyssa Deo: Human Resources Management Series

Ethan DiClemente/Declan Maisano: Travel & Tourism Marketing Management Team Decision Making 

Samuel Eisenstein: Apparel & Accessories Marketing Series

Antonio Giannini: Entrepreneurship Series

Nicolas Kozachuk/John Lermi: Marketing Management Team Decision Making

Steven Luehs: Entrepreneurship Series

Laila Martes/Dean Palmer: Sports & Entertainment Marketing Management Team Decision
Making
Connor Seawright: Automotive Services Marketing
Jeremiah Strippoli: Entrepreneurship

