2019 District 4 West Career Development Conference

On January 13 and 14, members of Coon Rapids DECA competed at the MN District 4 West Career Development Conference in Plymouth.  Among the 48 DECA members that attended, there were 34 students that qualified for state in at least one event!  Some of the highlights at the conference included 50 overall finalists and 21 first, second, and third place finishers for Coon Rapids High School. 

Congratulations to Kenneth Batiste, Ellen Leciejewski, Ryan Kemp, Maja Gonzalez, and Isaac Rusco who each took home first place finishes.  A big congratulation goes out to Sara Abbas and Maja Gonzalez who qualified for state in all three of their events.  A special recognition goes to Megan Schultze, Kenneth Batiste, Ellen Leciejewski, and Brynn Nguyen who all earned a top twenty-five test score at the conference.

These students will be competing in March at the DECA Minnesota State Career Development conference, for the right to represent Minnesota DECA at the International Career Development Conference this April in Orlando, FL.  

All the DECA members who attended should be applauded for their excellent showing.  Lastly, Mr. Bodenburg would like to thank all the DECA members who attended the District 4 West competition for their respectful and professional behavior at the conference; you truly represented yourselves with class and dignity. Thank you and congratulations!

 2019 Minnesota State Career Development Conference

1^st Row:  Uyen, Nguyen, Rylee Turner, Megan Schultze, Salam Hijazi, Maja Gonzalez, Megan Cosman, Jordan Kochendorfer, Ellen Leciejewski, Sara Abbas, Brynn Nguyen, Sydney Soczek, Emily Holloway

2^nd Row: Blake Bodenburg, Marty Jennings, Kenneth Batiste, Isaac Rauch, Quincy Taylor, Ryan Kemp, TJ Scott, Tate Bodenburg, Zach Goldenstein, Hunter Keuning

3^rd Row:  Darrius Carline, Jesus Genis, Eli Guthrie, Meena Yang, Josie Ingvaldson, Victoria Jackson, Miah Isenor, Samantha Torrez, Nick Terebayza, Treavaun Hampton, Marshall Milless

On March 3, 4, and 5^th at the DECA State Career Development Conference in Minneapolis, Coon Rapids DECA had a wonderful showing.  Some of the highlights of the State DECA Conference included a 10^th place finish for Rylee Turner and Kenneth Batiste in Financial Literacy Promotion Plan.  A 9^th place finish for Sydney Soczek and Ellen Leciejewski in Financial Services Team Decision Making.  Ryan Kemp earned two 6th place finishes in Professional Selling and Sports and Entertainment Marketing.  Coon Rapids DECA also earned 3^rd place in the Video Production Contest.  Both Maja Gonzalez and Kenneth Batiste brought home 2^nd place finishes in Soft Lines Sales Demonstration and in Principles of Hospitality and Tourism respectively.  Lastly, the team of Jesus Genis and Megan Cosman earned a very impressive 2^nd place finish for the Minnesota DECA Gold Chapter Project.  Overall, Coon Rapids had 21 state finalists in their individual or team events.

In addition to all the top finishes, the Coon Rapids chapter was acknowledged as one of only three chapters in the state to earn the distinct Achievement Level on all four national DECA chapter campaigns.  The campaigns include the Membership Campaign, the Global Entrepreneurship Campaign, the Promotional Campaign, and the Community Service Campaign.  Amidst the 2,079 competitors Eli Guthrie, Kenneth Batiste, and Sara Abbas stood out by earning the top 25 test scores on their individual comprehensive exams

Other highlights of the conference were when Ryan Kemp and Ellen Leciejewski were named Coon Rapids High School’s Outstanding DECA Members of the Year.  Brynn Nguyen, Ryan Kemp, Sydney Soczek, Rylee Turner, and Salam Hijazi earned the Minnesota DECA Speaker’s Bureau Awards, for their work this year in speaking in promotion of business and marketing education to their larger community.

Along with all the student successes, advisor Blake Bodenburg was honored to be named as one of seven Minnesota Secondary DECA Outstanding Advisors at the conference.  Bodenburg was also honored with Minnesota DECA’s honorary life membership award.  The honorary life membership award is the equivalent of DECA’s lifetime achievement award, and it is considered Minnesota DECA’s highest honor.

In addition to all the top finishes, recognitions, and awards Kenneth Batiste, Ryan Kemp, Maja Gonzalez, Sara Abbas, Ellen Leciejewski, Sydney Soczek, Brynn Nguyen, Megan Cosman, Jesus Genis, and the Promotion and Chapter Campaign team members of Sara Abbas, Salam Hijazi, Emily Holloway, Josie Ingvaldson, and Megan Schultze all qualified to attend this spring’s International Career Development Competition in Orlando, Florida.  At this conference Coon Rapids will be competing with nearly 20,000 other marketing competitors from around the world in an extremely competitive international field. 

Last but not least, Mr. Bodenburg and Mrs. Roo would like to say thank-you to all the DECA members that competed in the state conference; you represented Coon Rapids and yourselves with dignity and class.  Congratulations to all!