Eighty-three students from Smithtown East and West DECA received a combined 51 medals and trophies in the New York DECA State Competition this year in Rochester, New York. Eleven students from the SCSD out of the more than 3,700 students from across the state qualified in their competition to attend the International Career Conference in Atlanta, Georgia at the end of April. They will be competing against all the top winners from across the globe.

The competitions included business topics such as; marketing, finance, public relations, accounting, entrepreneurship, business law and ethics, hospitality, human resources, public speaking and marketing communications. Students competed in either tests and role plays or written manuals and presentations. DECA is an international business/marketing club opened to high school students enrolled in Business courses in the CTE Department. It is a global program that provides students with experiences and activities in areas such as accounting, marketing, finance, accounting, hospitality and management.  Participation also develops leadership skills, public speaking, civic consciousness and social intelligence in participants. 

In addition to our students placing in their various competitions, SCSD was also awarded chapter recognition for the following areas:

EAST:

• Community Service, Membership & Promotional Campaigns - earned Thrive Level 
• Awards given for donations to State Charity: National Association of Mental Illness(NAMI)
• Gold SBE Certification

WEST:

• Community Service, Membership & Promotional Campaigns - earned Thrive Level
• Awards given for donations to State Charity: National Association of Mental Illness(NAMI)
• Gold SBE Certification 

 

East and West students also were selected to the 2026 New York DECA Honor Society: WEST - Caroline Brophy, Maribella Marciano, Sidney Marks, Brody Meier. Katerina Miller, Isabella Paliwoda, Catherine Piccininni, Ashlynn Renkowski and Quinn Wroobel

 

EAST -Giuliana Capobianco, Marcello DiCostanzo, James Huxtable, Michael Imperto, Marco Intintoli & Harley Sopko

        

DECA East State Medal and Trophy Winners

Robert Auerbach, Dylan Rossein, Nicholas Amature, James Huxtable, Neha Golia, Chase Hecht, Kylie Burke, Hannah Tabackman, Ryan Dart, Juliana Patti and Giuliana Capobianco.

 

DECA West State Medal and Trophy Winners 

Isabella Paliwoda, Ashlynn Renkowski, Ryan Selzer, Daniel Hsiao, Landon Fischer, Sidney Marks, Julia Carbuccia, Lanie Ryder, Brody Meier, Gabby Arguelles, Jacqui Reisen, Cole Jurman, Josh Hoffman, Zach Aronson, Patrizio Rotondo, Ava Devlin, Molly Hyland, Brooke Visnius, Olivia Cucinotta, Finley VanDeusen, Mallory Waller, Yusuf Husainy and Katherine Dunn 

 

East State Finalists Advancing to the International Competition:  Robert Auerbach, Dylan Rossein, Nicholas Amature, James Huxtable, Kylie Burke, Hannah Tabackman and Giuliana Capobianco.

West State Finalists Advancing to the International Competition: Katerina Miller, Isabella Paliwoda, Ashlynn Renkowski and Mallory Waller.

As always, an extra special thank you to CTE Director Christine LoFrese for her direction and guidance and to DECA advisors Maeve Miller (HSE) and Stefanie Torlentino (HSW) for leading our students!