Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Livingston County students shined at the recent Michigan DECA State Career Development Conference. That's where students participated in a variety of business and finance competitions, including role-play events in which they analyzed a business scenario.

Hartland Consolidated Schools sent 83 students to the competition in Detroit. Three qualified for the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in April, which takes place in Atlanta.

In addition, two students who are members of the Eagle’s Roost (our school store) earned a Gold Certification for their Retail Operations School-Based Enterprise project and will also attend the International Conference.

Six students earned medals for their exam or role-play performance, and 20 students were recognized as finalists.

"We had 17 kids that almost qualified for internationals. So, overall, we were very pleased with the trip," said Ron Van Wagoner, DECA advisor and Hartland High School business teacher.

Throughout the conference, students practiced important professional skills including networking, problem-solving, and communication.

Van Wagoner acknowledged Brighton, Howell and Lakeland High Schools all faired well too.

"Brighton has quite a few international qualifiers. And Howell did too," he said. "It used to be Hartland DECA was the cream of the crop. We were the top dog for a few years, but we're starting to see a lot of these other schools are starting to catch up with us. We have to work a little harder and tweak a couple things to make sure we're still on top."

Because of Hartland DECA’s dedication to community service, the team was granted four additional spots in DECA’s ‘Thrive Academy’. Students selected to attend will learn about leadership and bring this knowledge and experience to be future leaders of our DECA chapter.