Embedded Files
By Dominic DiGiulio
The Kenmore West DECA Chapter was proud to be able to send eight students to compete at the DECA state competition: Ava McCrea, Charles Mogavero, Dominic DiGiulio, Gabriel Tarantelli, Jack Lipowski, Jacob Nice, Joseph Edwards, and Kaleb Smith. Students competed in a variety of events ranging from Principles of Business Events, which are reserved for first-year DECA members, all the way to writing events where students write a 10-20 page paper and deliver a presentation to a series of judges. This year's competition was extremely successful for our Kenmore West Chapter, with both Gabriel Tarantelli and Joseph Edwards qualifying for DECA’s International Career Development Conference (ICDC). Per DECA.org, “The DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) is the culmination of the DECA year. More than 23,000 high school students, teachers advisors, business professionals, and alumni gather for several days of DECA excitement. DECA members demonstrate their college and career-ready knowledge and skills by participating in DECA’s industry-validated Competitive Events Program, aligned with Career Clusters, National Curriculum Standards, and 21st Century Skills in the areas of marketing, finance, hospitality, management, and entrepreneurship.”
DECA is a club at Kenmore West led by advisor Nicholas Warchocki. Mr. Warchocki started our DECA chapter during the 2023-2024 school year, and the chapter has seen immediate success in both competitions but also in developing leadership skills. Joey Edwards and Gabe Tarantelli, for example, made nationals in only the second year of the chapter. When Joey was asked about why he joined DECA, he cited his interest in the business world and his desire to further his learning in business. Joey felt these goals were met. When asked about what he thinks of the conferences and competitions, he said “It was really cool. I had a lot of fun. I thought it was a really big place with a lot of people and I really enjoyed the networking.” Regarding the State Competition, Gabe said, “It was a little overwhelming at first over how everything was going to work, scheduling and figuring out what I would do with free time, but as soon as we got there the dynamic of everybody in the club really clicked and the light-hearted environment took away a lot of the stresses.” He added that when he was announced as a winner of DECA glass, “It was honestly an amazing feeling. I didn’t expect it at all seeing as Mr. Warchocki called it a pipe dream, but seeing Mr. Warchocki so proud that we were going to be attending ICDC for the first time was so exciting and filled me with happiness.”
Joey and Gabe are now both looking forward to ICDC. Joey said that he is “looking forward to representing our school for the first time and getting out to a beautiful city like Orlando.” He also looks forward to “networking with a lot of people who share common interests with me.” On behalf of the Blue Devil Beat, we are proud to wish both Joey and Gabe the best of luck at ICDC! For anyone interested in joining DECA for the 2025-2026 school year stop by Mr. Warchocki’s room (317), or email him at nwarchocki@ktufsd.org
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