April O'Neil / news@whmi.com


Students at Howell High School are being recognized for their performance at a recent academic competition.

Students representing the Howell High School DECA club took home majors honors after representing their school at the DECA State Conference. DECA stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America, and prepares students for college and their careers through competitions like academic exams, case studies, and presentations for industry leaders in the workforce.

In Howell, two teams claimed a state title and will advance to the international competition in Florida next month.

Advancing to the international competition are Jillian Smith and Aubrey Bellenir in the Buying and Merchandising category and Jacob Clark and Elise LaCour in the Financial Services category.

The DECA international competition will be held in Orlando, Florida April 21-26.

Several other Howell students were named state finalists. The names of those students and their awards can be found in the attached release.

Howell High School business teacher and DECA advisor Robert Klein said “The DECA state competition is a highly competitive event, and students must first compete at a DECA district competition to earn the right to compete at the state level. Howell is part of a five-county district consisting of Livingston, Washtenaw, Lenawee, Jackson, and Ingham counties. I am so proud of our students whose hard work paid off at the state competition. It has been fun to watch as they developed their projects and professional skills in preparation for the competition.”