Local DECA members named national finalists
5/18/2008 12:26 AM   0 comment(s) on this story E-mail this story to a friend


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South Aiken High School DECA members Allie Nicosia and Shelby Smith recently were named national finalists for their marketing research project in a competition in Atlanta.
Winning the first round of the contest, Nicosia and Smith advanced to the final round, placing in the top 14 overall among approximately 180 teams.
Four other South Aiken students won the DECA Gold Medal of Excellence for placing in the top 15 percent in their events. Brittany Skinner and Ashley Coomes were cited for their public relations campaign promoting the Make A Wish Foundation. Laura Johnson and Lauren Hall were recognized for their entrepreneurship project, which included preparation of a business plan and presenting a proposal for a new health club.
For their project, Nicosia and Smith prepared a 30-page research paper, analyzing a business within their community. They also identified ways in which the organization could improve its environmental impact.
Based on their findings, the students developed a green marketing campaign. During the competition, they gave a 20-minute presentation to business executives, outlining their research, campaign ideas and recommendations.
Since Rob Lovejoy began advising the DECA Club at South Aiken, he said only a few students from the regional district have ever gotten on stage at the national competition and made it to the final round.
"To achieve this level of success is a tremendous accomplishment by the students and is reflective of their dedication and hard work," Lovejoy said.
Skinner has won the Gold Medal Awards three times, while Johnson and Hall have won the award two years consecutively.
"All of the students put in a lot of extra time and effort in preparing for competition," Lovejoy said. "These are well rounded individuals that have jobs and participate in many extracurricular activities, all with a common goal of preparing themselves for college and the workforce. The future looks bright for these deserving young ladies."
DECA is an international association of high school marketing students with about 185,000 members from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, Canada, Mexico, Germany and Korea.

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