Sixteen students from Bridgewater-Raritan High School traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, to participate in the DECA Inc. International Career Development Conference (ICDC), held April 25–28.
According to Shelly Wakde, a French Teacher and DECA Advisor at Bridgewater-Raritan High School, the conference brought together more than 26,000 students, advisors, and business professionals from across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Germany, and other regions, making it the largest conference in DECA history.
She reported that Bridgewater-Raritan High School DECA members competed in a variety of business-related events focused on entrepreneurship, accounting, marketing, finance, and management while also participating in leadership academies, professional workshops, and networking opportunities with more than 85 internationally recognized businesses and industry leaders.
Ms. Wakde also revealed that several students from Bridgewater-Raritan High School earned international recognition for their outstanding performances. Vivian Chao placed in the Top 5 internationally in Accounting Applications. Darsh Gaur earned a Top 10 international finish in Entrepreneurship, while Tharun Naguleswaran placed in the Top 10 internationally in Principles of Business Management & Administration.
The following students represented Bridgewater-Raritan High School at the conference: Amin Yusuf, Satwika Chakkilam, Vivian Chao, Meher Dua, Darsh Gaur, Shriya Gobinathan, Rishabh Gupta, Roma Gupta, Nitya Jain, Dhriti Karra, Mahathi Karthik, Gayatri Krishnan, Tharun Naguleswaran, Sanvi Parikh, Devin Patel, and Ridhwan Sharma.
“We are extremely proud of our students for representing Bridgewater-Raritan High School with professionalism, leadership, and determination on the international stage,” Ms.Wakde said. “Their hard work throughout the year truly paid off, and this experience allowed them to grow both personally and professionally.”
Ms. Wakde added:
“During the school year, more than 250,000 of DECA’s 315,000 student members participate in the organization’s competitive events program, competing for local and regional titles. The competitions are designed to simulate real-life business scenarios and test students’ academic understanding and leadership skills development. The top state and provincial winners advance to the final round of international competition at ICDC in Atlanta.”