WEST IRONDEQUOIT CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Irondequoit High School

260 Cooper Road

Rochester, NY 14617

To: All media

From: Lou DiCesare, Business Education Teacher – 336-4633

Date: May 4, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

I.H.S. Business Students Earn

National Finalist and Medalist Distinctions

DECA Students Travel to Orlando for the

International Career Development Conference

Photo: Back Row-Sam Kennedy, Tyler Condello Front Row-Barb Bianchi, Meaghan Lada, Maggie Baum, Mike Calabro

Irondequoit High School Business students traveled to Orlando, FL this past week (4/28-5/2) to compete in the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC). A total of six students either competed in a competitive event or participated in a Leadership Development Academy (http://www.deca.org/pdf/HSEvents2007.pdf ).

Seniors Mike Calabro and Meaghan Lada were teamed up and competed in the Financial Analysis Team Decision Making Event. Sophomores Tyler Condello and Sam Kennedy were teammates in the Virtual Business-Retail Computer Simulation Event. Senior Maggie Baum competed as an individual in the Business Services Marketing event. Freshman Barb Bianchi participated in the Leadership Development Academy.

Any one of the 13,000 business students who traveled to Orlando to compete at this conference had to first compete and qualify at the regional and state level before moving on to the 61st ICDC where students from all 50 states, Guam, Canada, Germany, and Puerto Rico participated. Irondequoit High School had 170 students compete at the regional level and 36 students compete at the state career conference.

Students who competed had to take a comprehensive hour-and-a-half test on their chosen subject (there are over 60 different business subjects to choose from), and also participate in role-plays throughout the three days.

National finalist distinctions were bestowed upon Condello and Kennedy for finishing eighth in the country (out of approximately 800 teams) for their efforts in the Virtual Business retail competitions. They also will receive a check for $100 for finishing in the top eight – as their event was sponsored by Knowledgematters. A medalist distinction was earned by Maggie Baum for having one of the top ten test scores in the country in Business Services Marketing. All medalist and national finalists received their awards on stage in the Orange County Convention Center in front of the 13,000 participants.

Maggie Baum indicated, “My participation in DECA helped me get into Cornell University where I will be attending next year. The Cornell admissions person that interviewed me knew what DECA was and the kind of effort and learning that was required to compete in a Business Education competition on an international level” Maggie is planning on majoring in Hotel Management this fall.

Barb Bianchi is a freshman and an officer of the Irondequoit DECA chapter. Barb had a different kind of experience at the ICDC because she attended the Leadership Development Academy (LDA). Only a certain number of students were allowed to participate in the LDA. Students had to apply and be approved by their respective state advisor. Students attended lectures which taught public speaking, creative marketing and ways to increase membership in chapters. For Barb, “The LDA helped me identify how important teamwork is to get a job done. The teamwork exercises we completed provided me with a lot of ideas to help our DECA chapter do even more next year.”

All of the students who attended the ICDC had an opportunity to present to various credit unions leaders before leaving for Orlando. The purpose of the presentation was to inform the various credit union CEO’s and executives what DECA is, how DECA better informs them of their career choices and solicit sponsorship support to attend the ICDC. Executives from Advantage Federal Credit Union, St. Pius X Federal Credit Union, Pittsford Federal Credit Union, Reliant Federal Credit Union, ESL Federal Credit Union and Summit Federal Credit Union were all in attendance and financially supported these students to have the opportunity to test their knowledge in various strands of business careers at the highest level.

DECA (www.deca.org ) is a co-curricular association for marketing students. The Irondequoit chapter is co-advised by Business Teachers Lou DiCesare and Jeanine Lent.