For Immediate Release

Thursday, May 9, 2019

Media Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-428-3299
Email: [email protected]

King Philip Students Win First Place at International DECA Conference

NORFOLK — Superintendent Paul Zinni is pleased to share that multiple King Philip High School students took first place during competitions at DECA’s International Career Development conference in April, and several others were named top international finalists.

DECA, a nonprofit student organization, works with high schools and colleges to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

A group of 63 students from King Philip’s DECA club attended the April 27-30 conference in Orlando, Florida, where they participated in competitive events to test their professional skills. The students qualified for the competition after placing in state and regional competitions designed to stimulate real-life business scenarios and test students’ academic understanding and skills development earlier this year.

Approximately 21,000 students from around the world competed during the conference.

In the Integrated Marketing Event, Dan Sammarco, a senior from Plainville, and Ryan Wood, a senior from Wrentham, took first place.

Tony Bozza, a senior from Norfolk, and Dylan Powers, a senior from Wrentham, also took first place in the Integrated Marketing Service competition.

Several King Philip Students were named Top 10 International Finalists, including Kat Caravaggio, a senior from Wrentham, in the Start-Up Business Plan competition; Hannah Mahoney, a junior from Norfolk, and Emily Melanson, a junior from Norfolk, in the Learn and Earn Project competition; and Zach Ball, a junior from Plainville, Kyle Hurley, a junior from Plainville, and Ramez Saad, a junior from Plainville,  in The Independent Business Plan competition.

Ryan Hastings, a senior from Plainville, was also named a Top 16 International Finalist in the Creative Marketing Campaign Competition.

In addition to career-based competitions, DECA members engaged in leadership academics and networking opportunities with over 60 internationally recognized businesses at the conference.

“Our DECA students worked incredibly hard to prepare for this conference,” said James Dow, the adviser of the King Philip DECA club. “These students are dedicated to learning important skills for their futures as leaders, entrepreneurs and professionals, and they showcased their knowledge and abilities impressively in these competitions.”

About King Philip DECA
King Philip DECA is a high school business club. The group is part of a larger network of over 215,000 high school students around the world. DECA prepares young leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges globally.

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