Lawrence High DECA goes 4-for-4 at state contest

Though the Lawrence High School DECA Club did not get started until two months ago, that didn’t hinder the students as all four who competed in the virtual State Career Conference March 3 to 5 placed in the top 10 of the exam portion and advanced to the international level.

Seniors Nader Daruvala and Luke Kirchner placed fourth overall in their Integrated Marketing Service plan. Junior Xian Scott placed fifth overall in Professional Selling. Senior Danielle Hance placed fifth overall in Hospitality & Tourism Professional Selling.

Hance and Kirchner tied the great DECA legend Andrew Postman by making it to compete on the international level for a third time, said Mark Albin’s the club’s adviser. Kirchner is the only one to make it three consecutive years.

Daruvala and Scott will be competing on the international level for the second straight year. Daruvala scored an 88 on the exam, the second highest score by a Lawrence student, Albin said. Noah Friedlander retains the record at 91.

“DECA started in September as it usually does each year, so everyone had roughly a four month head start on us,” Albin said. “These kids really worked so hard and strived for so much in such a short period of time. I am so proud of them and all their efforts.” 

DECA, formerly the Distributive Education Clubs of America, aims to prepare high school students across the world to be leaders and entrepreneurs in finance, hospitality, marketing and management.

The virtual international competition will take place between April 12 and May 6. There are different components each week.