Waiakea High School DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) students excelled at the 2023 Hawaii State DECA Career Development Conference that took place on February 1-3 at the Ala Moana Hotel on Oahu. Waiakea DECA received recognition as DECA Chapter of the Year. President Jessie Shimizu represented her chapter’s officers and club members when accepting the award.
DECA conferences are targeted, highly focused learning experiences for students in the field of business, connecting students with professionals and engaging them in learning industry-related trends and content. Waiakea High School DECA students competed in various competency and performance-based events and exams in business services marketing, entrepreneurship, human resource management, marketing communications and retail merchandising.
Receiving awards were Lainie Balingit (marketing communications, finalist medal, overall third place trophy), Sienna Chanhmany (retail merchandising, finalist medal, second place written exam) and Nathan Sewake (business services marketing, second place written exam). Lainie Balingit and Sienna Chanhmany qualified to compete in the 2023 International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Florida in April.