Competition History
MHS DECA: A History of Excellence
443 Student Winners and Counting!
Thirty one years ago, Mr. Michael Awdziewicz began the Middletown D.E.C.A. program. Since that time, through the efforts of hundreds of outstanding students, the program has become one of, if not the, finest programs in the state of Connecticut. In 2002 Mr. Dave Reynolds joined the Marketing team.
The amount of awards and trophies the program has earned would fill a classroom. Since 2000, MHS DECA has won various state and national awards. They include:
2012-2013 was a great year! 34 state winners, 13 first place winners and 23 scoring high enough to quality for the international competition in Anaheim, CA. In Anaheim, 19 of the 22 students earned top 20% certificates of excellence, 3 students earned a total of 5 medals and one student, Haley McDonald, earned 3rd place in the world for Principles of Marketing.
2011-2012 kept the momentum going, our best year yet! 39 state winners, 17 first place winners, 28 scoring high enough to quality for the international competition in Salt Lake City, UT. 50 students, both first and second year, competed. In Salt Lake City, 17 students earned top 20% certificates of excellence and 3 students earned a total of 7 medals and got on the grand stage!
2010-2011 was even better, breaking the old state record held by us with 34 state winners, 19 scoring high enough to qualify for the international competition in Orlando, FL. 52 students, both first and second year, competed. In Orlando, 6 students earned top 20 certificates.
2009-2010 was our best year and the best by any CT DECA Chapter in the history of CT DECA. 29 winners, 18 scoring high enough to qualify for the international competition in Louisville, KY. Roughly 50 students, both first and second year, competed. In Louisville 3 students earned top 20 certificates. Governor Jodi Rell recognized the program via proclomation.
2008-2009 was arguably our best year. 17 victories, 15 students scoring high enough to qualify for the international competition in Anaheim, California. Roughly 40 students, both first and second year, competed. In Anaheim, 3 students earned medals and 5 earned top 20 certificates.
2007-2008 was a solid year. 13 victories, 6 students scored high enough to qualify for the international competition in Atlanta, Georgia. Roughly 40 students, both first and second year, competed. Once again we swept the top 3 spots in CT for the Virtual Business competition.
2006-2007 was another stellar year. 13 state winners, 10 of those scored high enough to qualify for the international competition in Orlando, Florida. Roughly 40 students, both first and second year, competed.
During November, 1600 international teams of high school age students competed in the Virtual Business Challenge. This challenge tasked student teams from around the globe to own and operate a virtual convenience store in a downtown area for a simulated year. Seven teams from Middletown DECA competed in this challenge and did an outstanding job. These students earned the top six spots in Connecticut and six of the teams ranked in the top 100 of 1600. The best team, “Blue Dragons” led by junior Chelsea Martin, earned a rank of #35 in the world, which is roughly top 2%! This was the first year Middletown DECA competed in this event. If you see these students please take a moment to congratulate them.
Junior Chelsea Martin #35 in the world, #1 in CT.
Senior Caryn Mitchell #49 in the world, #2 in CT.
Juniors Katy Ahlers and Stephanie Santos #55 in the world, #3 in CT.
Juniors Chris Carlson and Matt Scirpo #63 in the world, #4 in CT.
Juniors Ray Belanger and Ben Eisner #79 in the world, #5 in CT.
Junior Mike Ford #90 in the world, #6 in CT.
Junior Jason Montinieri #12 in CT.
2005-2006 was another great year. 14 state winnders, 12 of those scoring high enough to qualify for the national competition in Dallas, Texas. 7 of our winners took first place. 40 students, both first and second year, competed.
2004-2005 was record setting. 17 state winners, 13 of those scoring high enough to qualify for the national competition at Disneyworld in California. 38 students, both first and second year, competed. MHS DECA: Simply the best.
2003-2004 saw another super team of D.E.C.A. students succeed at the state competition. Out of 37 students that competed, both first and second year, 14 won state awards, and 11 had the opportunity to compete in Tennessee at the national convention. Once again, Middletown most likely had the best ratio of students that competed to winners.
2002-2003 was the program's finest year to date. Out of 37 students that competed, both first and second year, 16 won state awards, and 10 had the opportunity to compete in Tampa, Florida at the national convention. Middletown probably had the best ratio of students that competed to winners.
