Carbon Career & Technical Institute students are excelling in competition.

Carly Rinda, DECA advisor, and students, provided an update at the last joint operating committee meeting regarding student accomplishments in DECA competitions.

The state competition was in Hershey on Feb. 19-21 and the nationals are coming this month in Orlando.

Grace Politi, a junior in digital marketing and business fundamentals from Panther Valley School District, will attend the Thrive Ultimate Chapter workshop.

Her hard work within the chapter has earned CCTI spots in the DECA Leadership Series, which provides members with leadership training, networking opportunities, guest speakers, and hands-on learning experiences.

Makenna Montefour and Owen Rakos, a senior in electrical distribution and automation from Palmerton Area School District, will compete in The School-based Enterprise Academy Plus Competition during DECA’s International Career Development Conference.

Participants in the academy attend professional development sessions focused on entrepreneurship, share ideas, and learn from other student-based enterprises.

In the competition, students present an oral presentation to a business professional judge based on a preselected business standard Jalin Burns was a finalist in the Hotel and Lodging Management Series at the state competition in Hershey.

In this event, participants perform marketing and management tasks related to hotels, lodging services, convention services, and food and beverage services.

The competition includes an exam and up to three appearances before a judge. Grace shared the hard work that went into earning her gold medal and discussed how her experiences have helped her improve the chapter and assist her peers.

She has strengthened her leadership skills through preparation and competition. Owen spoke about his upcoming competition and how meaningful the experience is to him, as this is his first year competing as a senior.

He is particularly interested in the entrepreneurship program, as he hopes to own his own electrical business one day. goal of providing DECA opportunities to all CCTI students, not just those in marketing programs

Owen is a strong example of this inclusivity.

DECA, which stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America, is a nonprofit organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management.

It serves high school and college students worldwide.