Twenty-four Upper School students traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to compete at DECA’s International Career Development Conference (ICDC)  from May 3 to 6.

Over 17,000 students from around the world came together to compete in various leadership and business related competitions. In addition to competing students had the opportunity to attend the DECA dance, take part in a 5K walk/run, and spend a day at Six Flags.

Of the twenty-four students that competed, six were named finalists at the conference. Senior Nihal Uppugunduri and junior Alexander Tuharsky took first place in the Stock Market Game. In addition, Manthra Panchapakesan (11) placed third in the InvestWrite Essay while David Zhu and Peter Wu placed fifth in the Virtual Business Challenge-Restaurant. Two students also placed in the Top 20 for written exams, Raymond Xu (9) in Principles of Finance and Julia Fink (12) in Role play. Julia was also an Overall Finalist in Apparel Accessories Marketing.

Juston Glass, the Director of Business and Entrepreneurial Programs at Harker, reflects positively on the growth of his students through DECA.

“ICDC was an amazing opportunity for students to demonstrate the hard work they have put into their various business plans, research projects, role playing expertise, and presentations,” Glass said. “Everyone was able to network with students from all over the world, compete, and also give back to the community.”

The business program has seen tremendous growth this year. In addition to participating in DECA and Harker Business Club events, students had the opportunity to partake in the Stock Market Game and enroll in the “Principles of Business and Entrepreneurship” class offered for the first time in Upper School history. The class follows a mini-MBA program style and focuses on marketing, accounting and finance, entrepreneurship, and strategy and management.

ICDC concluded DECA events for the year.

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on May 16, 2014.