By Jon King/jking@whmi.com


DECA students from Hartland High School earned high honors and titles at a recent conference, sending them to compete in DECA’s International Finals.

The Hartland Consolidated School district sent 154 students to compete in the 74th Annual DECA Career Development Conference, which was held at the TCF Center in Detroit this past weekend. The conference offered students the opportunity to demonstrate their acquired skills in a business simulation environment.

Hartland student Kyle Zacharias is finishing up his term as DECA President for the State of Michigan, as is Hartland’s Jordan Barker as Vice President of Business Partnerships. Newly elected for the 2020-2021 year is Hartland Junior Ava Williams, who will be the new VP of Business Partnerships. 40 Hartland DECA students earned State Championships, which allows them to compete for the DECA International Finals in Nashville, Tennessee April 28th through May 3rd.

The group was led by a trio of Hartland teachers; Jamie Riley, Nathan Oake and Stephanie Ritter. Currently DECA has more than 225,000 members in more than 3,700 high schools and 300 colleges. The organization prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management from around the world.


Pictured Left to Right
Back Row - Jordan Barker, Jamie Riley, Kyle Zacharias
Front Row - Nathan Oake, Ava Williams, Stephanie Ritter