Six Penn students qualify for DECA International Competition

Penn High School students excelled at the recent state DECA competition, with six Penn DECA members earning berths to the International Competition in Nashville, Tenn., in April.

DECA is an organization devoted to developing leaders and entrepreneurs in finance, marketing, hospitality and management at the collegiate and high school level. There are more than 3,500 high school DECA chapters.

Penn students qualifying for DECA International Competition are:

Cassidy Jurkaites – Financial Consulting Event

Kyle Cather – Professional Selling

Danielle Kovach – Hospitality & Tourism Professional Selling

Kennedy Parker – Principles of Marketing

Luke Schneider – Personal Financial Literacy 

Kacey Wood – Advertising Campaign Event

“Penn DECA students have worked researching and working on papers and presentations since late fall in order to prepare for the Indiana State Competition that took place in Indianapolis, Feb. 28- March 1^st,” Penn DECA sponsor Stephanie McElwrath stated. “Students have reached out to business professionals to perfect their ideas, papers and presentations as well as spending hours studying for exams that are part of competition.”

McElwrath gave the students credit for one of Penn’s best showings at the state competition.

“The Penn DECA program has come a long way since its inception six years ago, and we have had numerous success stories,” McElwrath said. “What sets this group apart is that they are very self-driven and will become very successful business leaders in the future.”