Mercer Island High School’s DECA program announced that 38 students have qualified for the DECA state competition from March 6-8 in Bellevue. More students are still under consideration. In Bellevue, students will vie for the opportunity to attend the DECA International Career Development Conference in Atlanta in May.

“I am so proud of our DECA students. They showed up at this pressure-cooker competition where they were asked to think on their feet and present their business solutions to a panel of business professionals,” said teacher Jen McClellan.“They were insightful, knowledgeable, creative and smart.”

DECA is an international association of high school and college students and teachers that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

The winners from Mercer Island High School are:

• Financial Services

1st place Peter Mahony and Kevin Bernstein

• Hospitality Services

6th place Ashlyn Reid and Maddie Roer

• Sports and Entertainment Marketing

8th place Ben Dewhurst

• Entrepreneurship Innovation

8th place Charlie Williams and Calvin Lee

• Sports, Entertainment Promotion Plan

1st place Meredith Thieme

2nd place Adrienne Suhm and Nathan Gallitan

• Quick Serve Restaurant Management

5th place Brad Kimball

• Business Finance

4th place Brett Bottomley

6th place Megan Lee

• Marketing Communications

4th place Paige Brandon and Ashley Sun

9th place Maya Newman and Sarah Hanan

• Human Resources

4th place Jacob Pruchno

• Automotive Services

7th place Rachel Lee

• Restaurant and Food Services

1st place Sara Federman

3rd place Sean Kerawala

9th place Yaritza Encarnacion

• Food Marketing

4th place Shay Casady

• Travel and Tourism

5th place Sasan Salman and Michael Krebs

• Ad Campaign

3rd place Jane Peterson

4th place Amanda Wall and Dana He

6th place Delaney Clark and Madeline Kantor

• Marketing Management

1st place Sydney Zeldes

• Hotel and Lodging Management

1st place Sydney Lopes

7th place Chloe Keller

• Sports and Entertainment

2nd place Mackenzie Krause and Sarah Bjarnason

• Accounting

1st place Alex Banbury

2nd place Allison Rosenman

• Retail Merchandising

7th place Lynden Lam

The DECA students are taught by a team of Mercer Island staff, including Kristine Van der Heaven, Shasta Ray, Andrea Confalone, Jen McClellan, Susan Sutherin and Hana Nguyen.