Over the weekend, more than 150 Westford Academy students made their way into Boston for the Massachusetts DECA State Career Development Conference. As usual, the club members had an impressive representation at the awards sessions both Friday night and Saturday morning.

32 students qualified for the International Career Development Conference, held May 3-6 in Atlanta, Georgia, meaning they placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th in each of their categories.

In addition, 45 students placed in the top 10, so the possibility of students bumping up to qualify is highly likely due to those above them in the ranking not being able to attend.

John Rogers, WA’s DECA advisor, was pleased with all of the work accomplished during the weekend.

“I am very proud of all the students this weekend,” Rogers said. “There were a lot of kids that put in a lot of effort and hard work to succeed.”

Another exciting event of the weekend was that Kyle Pilachowski, a sophomore DECA member, was elected as an officer on the State Action Team. Pilachowski now fills the position his sister Jayne held this past year.

“Waiting for my name to be called as an elected officer was very nerve-racking,” said Pilachowski,  “But in the end, all my preparation, hard work, and campaigning paid off. The moment was surreal and I don’t know if anything will ever be able to compare to it.”

Overall, the weekend was a huge success for Westford Academy, and the club hopes the momentum will continue on into the national competition.

“I’m hoping we all have a great time in Atlanta and maybe even come home with some national winners,” said Rogers.

International Career Development Conference Qualifiers:

• Kalie Boyd and Jennifer Beattie- 4th place Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making
• Glynn Johnson and Jon Miller- 4th place Financial Services Team Decision Making
• Karun Kumar Kannan and Akhilesh Samant- 4th place Marketing Communications Team Decision Making
• Daniel Bodi and Abigail Cianciolo- 1st place Sports and Entertainment Team Decision Making
• Akshay Bhardwaj and Benjamin Woodward- 1st place Travel and Tourism Team Decision Making
• Lee Spinosa and Tori Weiss-2nd place Travel and Tourism Team Decision Making
• David Ellis- 3rd place Accounting Applications Series
• Brendan Ryan- 1st place Accounting Applications Series
• Lauren Katz- 1st place Apparel & Accessories Marketing Series
• Chinar Rastogi- 4th place Business Finance Series
• Andrew Clina- 4th place Food Marketing Series
• Grace Gosselin- 1st place Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling
• Siddhant Navali- 2nd place Hotel & Lodging Management Series
• Kyle Pilachowski- 4th place Hotel & Lodging Management Series
• Arjun Prakash- 1st place Marketing Management Series
• Neehath Malisetty- 3rd place Principles of Business Management
• Gary Hu- 3rd place Principles of Finance
• Trisha Kagalavadi- 4th place Principles of Finance
• Nihar Sheth- 1st place Principles of Finance
• Ankeeta Patil-2nd place Principles of Hospitality & Tourism
• Hannah Jung-2nd place Professional Selling Event
• Zachary Fleischer- 3rd place Quick Serve Restaurant Management
• Jayne Pilachowski- 1st place Quick Serve Restaurant Management
• Devin Quinn- 1st place Retail Merchandising Series
• Nicole Lucente and Sarah Maccini- 2nd place Sports & Entertainment Series