2021 District 4 DECA Competition

This past January members of Coon Rapids DECA competed at the MN District 4 Career Development Conference.  Among the 28 DECA members that attended the virtual competition, there were 25 students that qualified for state in at least one event!  Some of the highlights at the conference included 32 overall finalists for Coon Rapids High School. 

Congratulations to Josie Ingvaldson, Emily Holloway, Uyen Nguyen, Megan Schultze, Khalid Hussein, and Brooklyn Boese who each qualified for state in both of their events.  A special recognition goes to Megan Schultze and Emily Holloway who all earned a top twenty-five exam scores 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 Virtual International Career Development Conference this April.

 All the DECA members who attended should be applauded for their excellent showing.  Lastly, Mr. Bodenburg and Ms. Conor would like to thank all the DECA members who competed in the virtual District 4 competition for their respectful and professional energy during a challenging district competition season.  Thank you and congratulations!

2021 MN State Carer Development Conference

Front Row: Kurstin Amelsberg, Megan Schultze, Sabreen Shaya, Josie Ingvaldson, Emily Holloway, Uyen Nguyen

Middle Row:  Mr. Blake Bodenburg, Marshall Milless, Alex Brown, Sam Halvorson, Uhlric Wymer, Adel Zec

Top Row:  Jordanna Bradford, Anna Kelley, Joseph Plueger, Jayson Macklin, Sydney Holloway, Mya Kelley

 The virtual DECA State Career Development Conference was held February 26 through March 13, and Coon Rapids DECA had a wonderful showing. Some of the highlights of the State DECA Conference included an 8th place finish for Emily Holloway in the Community Service Project. A 7th place finish for Josie Ingvaldson in Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling. The Coon Rapids team of Emily Holloway, Josie Ingvaldson, and Uyen Nguyen also qualified in the School-Based-Enterprise Project by recertifying the Cardinal Image as a gold level enterprise.  Uyen Nguyen and Josie Ingvaldson and earned 5^th Place with the SBE presentation at the state competition. Senior Marshall Milless earned 4th place finish in Financial Consulting. Senior Uyen Nguyen also earned 4th place in Professional Selling. Lastly, the team of Megan Shultze and Josie Ingvaldson brought home a 2nd place finish in Entrepreneurship Team Role Play. Overall, Coon Rapids had 8 state finalists in their individual or team events.

 Amidst the 1,700 competitors at the state conference Megan Schultze stood out by earning a top 25 test score on her individual comprehensive exam. In addition to all the top finishes, the Coon Rapids chapter was acknowledged with the distinction of earning the highest 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.

 Other highlights of the conference were when Emily Holloway and Josie Ingvaldson were named Coon Rapids High School’s Outstanding DECA Members of the Year. In addition to all of this, Josie Ingvaldson served a leadership role in the conference as a Minnesota DECA State Officer. Distinguishing herself even further, four-year DECA member, Emily Holloway was awarded the prestigious Pat E. DiPlacido Scholarship from Minnesota DECA.

 In addition to all the top finishes, recognitions, and awards Uyen Nguyen, Megan Schultze, Marshall Milless, Sydney Holloway, Emily Holloway, Mya Kelley, Anna Kelley, Jordanna Bradford, and Josie Ingvaldson all qualified to attend this spring’s virtual International Career Development Competition. At this conference Coon Rapids will be competing with 20,000 other marketing competitors from around the world in an extremely competitive international field.  Last, but not least, advisors Mr. Bodenburg and Ms. Conor would like to say thank-you to all the DECA members that competed in the virtual state conference; you represented Coon Rapids DECA very well in an extremely challenging competition year. Congratulations to all!

 International Conference Attendees, Virtual Competition (Anaheim, CA)

 Uyen Nguyen:                       Professional Selling

Emily Holloway:                      School-Based-Enterprise, Food Operations

Mya Kelley:                            School-Based-Enterprise, Food Operations

Megan Schultze:                     Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making

Josie Ingvaldson:                    Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making

Marshall Milless                       Financial Consulting

Sydney Holloway:                   Gold Chapter Campaign, Elevate Academy

Jordanna Bradford:                 Gold Chapter Campaign, Elevate Academy

Anna Kelley:                          Chapter Community Service/Promotional/Global Entrepreneurship/and Membership Campaigns, Thrive Academy

2021 ICDC was held virtually due to a global pandemic