Lawrence DECA students headed to Utah

Following their excellent showing at the State Career Conference on March 9, three Lawrence High School DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) chapter students qualified for the International Career Development Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah that will take place from April 28 to May 1.

Lauren Abecassis finished fourth overall in the Hospitality & Tourism Professional Selling Event. Abecassis will be making her second consecutive trip to the International Competition. The junior, who lives in Atlantic Beach, began her school career in the Lawrence School District, moved to Florida and returned at the beginning of this year’s spring semester.

She was a member of her Florida school’s DECA chapter and after mentioning her participation in DECA to Lawrence teacher Mark Palladino, DECA advisor Mark Albin contacted New York State’s DECA Advisory Board and they permitted Abecassis to compete.

Derek Jacobs placed second at the state conference overall in the Hospitality & Tourism Professional Selling Event, and he will be making his first trip to the international competition.

Also making his second straight trip to this competition is Sam Sussman, who finished in the top 10 overall in his exam and role play, finishing fourth overall in the Restaurant & Food Services Management category.

Overall, 12 Lawrence DECA members finished in the top 10 of their respective categories earning a total of 18 medals.

“I am very proud of all our students,” Albin said. “They put in a tremendous amount of time and work preparing for this competition. Not only did the students work on their role plays and tests before

and after school, they also gave up their lunch periods for a couple of weeks in order to fine-tune their presentations. The results are exceptional.”