Superintendent David DiBarri is pleased to announce that five Northeast Metro Tech Business Technology students earned their way to DECA’s International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Florida last month, paving the way for them take leadership positions in the school’s developing DECA chapter.
The International Career Development Conference (ICDC) is held annually by DECA, and features over 20,000 high school students from across the globe coming together to participate in competitive challenges and learn skills in leadership, collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity. This year’s ICDC was held from April 22-26. Students participating at ICDC must earn their way via their performances in district- and state-level competitions.
Asaf Aramendis Giraldo, a junior from Revere, attended ICDC to compete in the Business Growth Plan competition, which requires all participants to be a business owner. Giraldo is a part owner of Artinmet, a Revere company that manufactures custom furniture.
The Business Growth Plan competition involves the idea generation and strategy development needed to grow an existing business. Participants in the Business Growth Plan competition analyzed their current business operations and identified opportunities to grow and expand their business.
Juniors Liliana Valle Mendez, of Chelsea, and Iliana Ramos Reyes, of Revere, won the state-level Quiz Bowl competition, which earned them seats in the Ignite Leadership Academy.
Sophomores Ashley Estrada Ramos, of Revere, and Melissa Domingos, of Revere, also earned seats in the Ignite Leadership Academy by participating in the state level School Based Enterprise competition, where they established a 50-page operations manual for the Northeast Metro Tech school store.
The ICDC Ignite Leadership Academy accepts only 200 students from the across the globe and teaches participants how to build and develop their local DECA chapter, how to present themselves professionally across a wide variety of arenas, and how to collaborate across a diverse workforce.
Mendez, Reyes, Ramos and Domingos learned business etiquette in networking, dining, and the office during daily academy meetings. Students in the academy were placed into teams, where they assumed leadership roles in a mock company.
Fresh off their lessons learned at the ICDC, Giraldo, Mendez, Reyes, Ramos and Domingos will now serve as the inaugural officers for Northeast Metro Tech DECA.
Northeast Metro Tech has participated in DECA for six years, but will now add student leaders to the organization. Juniors Giraldo, Mendez and Reyes will serve as co-presidents, while sophomores Ramos and Domingos will serve as co-vice presidents.
The five students will work together to establish a charter for the Northeast Metro Tech DECA Chapter, and will represent the chapter on the local and state level.
All five students are hoping to leverage their experience and lessons to increase DECA participation among Business Technology students, who are the only students eligible for DECA at Northeast Metro Tech.
“We are extremely proud of these five students for earning their way to ICDC and for the maturity and eagerness to learn that they showed while there,” said Superintendent DiBarri. “These five students are now equipped to be fine leaders of our DECA chapter, and will surely help us expand the chapter to reach even more students.”
