Buchholz Students
Excel in International Competition
Students from the Buchholz Academy of Entrepreneurship recently earned the highest recognitions at the DECA Grand Awards Ceremony after competing with 15,000 students at the International Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. DECA is an international association of students in marketing, management, and entrepreneurship.
Timothy “Chip” Lowe won first place honors in the Sunkist Challenge Viral Advertising Campaign event and Alison Daly won second place in the Entrepreneurship Participating event.
Along with his trophy and medallions, Chip also won cash prizes and scholarships totaling $3,000. He was one of 16 finalists chosen from hundreds of entrants throughout the country. Chip, a 9th grade student in the Academy, designed a viral advertising campaign for Sunkist beverages using social networking venues including Facebook, the iPhone market, the text message market, and QTrax. His campaign can be viewed at http://www.chiplowe.com/sunkistviralad/HTML/Sunkist.html.
Alison Daly placed 2nd in a field of 120 international competitors in the Entrepreneurship Participating Event, which is an 11-page business plan competition. This event required students to write a proposal for a start-up independent business and then orally present the plan to a judge who was posing as a lending officer. Alison was also awarded a cash prize for her proposal to purchase an apartment building and rent the apartments to UF students. On April 4 Alison had presented the same business plan at the University of Florida’s Leonhardt Business Plan Competition, where she placed 1st in the high school category and won a $1,000 cash prize.
Two other Academy students were among the twenty finalists in their DECA categories and were recognized with medallions at the Mini-Awards Session on Tuesday morning. They were Ted Li in the Business Plan competition, and Stephanie Osorio in the Hotel & Lodging Management event.
Additionally, Buchholz won the Diamond Level recognition for its Membership Campaign, which is the highest level recognition, and was also recognized as a Gold Level winner (the highest award) for its school store, The Spirit Spot. Buchholz is the only DECA chapter in Florida to have a Gold-Level school store. Advisor Donna Martin won a DECA/Kauffman Foundation Teacher Award & Scholarship of $1,000 for continuing education in the field of entrepreneurship. The Buchholz DECA advisors are Donna Martin and Sandra Yancey.
Whether it was challenging themselves in one of the competitive events, stretching their skills in a leadership academy, participating in leadership training sessions or just networking with peers from across North America, the fifteen conference participants from Buchholz made the most of their time in Atlanta. In addition to the competitions, conference highlights included inspiring general sessions, a jam-packed exhibit hall, a fashion show and super dance, the Chapter Management Academy, the Leadership Development Academy, and visits to the Atlanta Aquarium, CNN headquarters, and other area attractions.