From March 10-12, Hopedale DECA competed in-person at the 63rd Annual Massachusetts State Career Development Conference at the Marriott Copley and Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

Students from around the state worked hard to get to Boston, first qualifying for the event by placing in the top 6 for their events at one of the eight district competitions held throughout the state. 

The 3,000 conference participants in Boston and up to 45 competitors per category did not deter Hopedale DECA’s 56 competitors as they competed in business areas including finance, marketing, management, hospitality, and entrepreneurship. 

One main competitive area in which Hopedale DECA students found success was the project management series of events. For these events, competitors used project management skills to organize real events, like a financial literacy fair, a career fair, and a STEAM-focused educational event for children. 

All Hopedale competitors learned and practiced valuable business and interpersonal skills that they will take with them and apply as they progress through their high school and college careers. 

Hopedale DECA would like to thank the people who made attending the state conference possible, including our officer team, who worked tirelessly to organize and prepare for the event; DECA members and competitors, who put in an incredible amount of time and effort to study; parents and guardians who supported their children in this extracurricular success; the 2022 Sponsors of Hopedale DECA, who dramatically reduced costs and expenses for the event; Consigli Construction, for their generous Platinum level donation; and, of course, our chapter advisor, Talitha Oliveri, who spent hours upon hours tirelessly working to coordinate and execute the state championship.

International Competition - Here 

We Come

Moving on to the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) are 19 Hopedale students bound for Atlanta in April! State Champions competing in Atlanta and members participating in the Emerging Leaders Academy from April 23-27 are as follows:

Project Management Events:

Career Development: Ryan Hayes, Vinny Kaushik, Ahaan Singh  

Community Awareness: Ashleigh Bourgeois, Lauren Montville, Samantha Pannenborg

Sales Project: Caroline Gosselin, Ashley MacDonald, Gina Wilke  

Individual and Principal Events:

Food Marketing: Joel Bernardes

Principles of Finance: Kyle Maloney 

Principles of Hospitality & Tourism: Alexandra Goode 

Principles of Marketing: Dylan Whiting 

Emerging Leaders Academy:

Thrive - Ultimate Chapters Academy: Sejal Abraham, Madeline Hodgdon

Aspire - Ultimate Graduates Academy: Katharine Hevey, Caroline Hurley, Jason Reed, Kevin Small

To help make the cost of ICDC more manageable, Hopedale DECA is looking for sponsorships and donations from local businesses and individuals to offset trip expenses. Please reach out to Talitha Oliveri, advisor, at [email protected] with any questions. 

Donations can be mailed to Hopedale Jr.-Sr. High School, 25 Adin St, Hopedale, MA, 01747 or via UniPay at https://unipaygold.unibank.com/, Hopedale Public Schools, DECA Competition/Sponsorships.  

Thank you for your consideration in helping our students reach their fullest potential!