Out of 900 participants, Encinal High School DECA Chapter students stood out at the NorCal Development DECA Conference held Jan. 12 to 14 in San Ramon. Encinal’s team of 64 students participated strongly with many of the students being recognized and receiving awards, medals and trophies. They were honored for their performances in their particular areas of study. Encinal staff and parents helped and supported the students leading up to the event.

The honors included:

• Jaden Taylor, Max Onaga and Annmarie Velasquez earned a second-place medal and a second- place overall trophy in the advertising campaign promotional plan category.
• Mason Layag took home a first-place overall trophy in apparel and accessories marketing.
• Torin Martin won a third-place medal in the automotive service marketing category.
• Anneli Arneson and Mia Rossi earned a third-place medal and a third-place overall trophy in business law and ethics.
• Max Palmer won the first-place medal in the business services marketing category.
• Karen Nguyen and Shelby Nelson both won third-place medals in the hospitality service category.
• Jillian Mooney earned a second-place medal and the second-place overall trophy in the hotel and lodging management and hospitality and tourism professional selling category.
• Kristel Gollayan took the third-place overall trophy in the start-up business plan category.
• Joseph Reyes earned the third-place medal and Sophia Harris a first-place medal and the first-place overall trophy in restaurant and food service management.
• Emani Vaughn won the first-place medal in the retail merchandising category.

Founded in 1946, DECA is a nonprofit student organization with more than 200,000 high school members, 4,500 advisors and 15,000 postsecondary collegiate division members around the world. The student members of DECA are actively involved in preparing for successful careers in entrepreneurship, marketing, finance, hospitality and management. California DECA has almost 5,000 members. The organization was previously known as Delta Epsilon Chi and Distributive Education Clubs of America.
Find out more about the program at www.californiadeca.org.