From Nov. 7-10, more than 70 Harker students attended DECA’s Western Region Leadership Conference. Starting off the 2024-25 season, this event was the first conference for many, designed to provide students with competitive feedback and hands-on experience through participating in workshops with keynote speakers.

Students listened to keynote speaker and magician Nash Fung as he performed close-up magic while educating about empathetic communication. Next up were the Free Daps, freestyle rappers based in Orlando. They put on a personalized show with energetic rhymes and audience interaction.

Later, students conducted role-plays with first-year DECA members participating in the Principles of Entrepreneurship competition, while returning members participated in the Marketing Communication Series competition.

“The role-plays were really fun! Definitely required a lot of thinking beforehand, but when I was performing, it was fun to interact with the judge and do the event,” said Alexis Santosa, grade 9. “It was both exciting and a little nerve-racking.”

At the closing ceremony, Hoan Do, an actor and a city finalist in American Ninja Warrior, gave a motivational speech, empowering students to seize opportunities and overcome hardship. During the awards presentation, Harker DECA was represented by a substantial number of finalists from California, with 11 members receiving awards.

Top performers from Harker recognized during the closing ceremony are as follows:

Marketing Communications Series (MCS)

Sanaa Bhorkar, grade 12

Lauren Lin, grade 12

Eden Kelly, grade 11

Nicole Dean, grade 10

Nathaniel Idicula, grade 10

Principles of Entrepreneurship (PEN)

Sophie Han, grade 9

Will Hou, grade 9

Isaac Liu, grade 9

Arushi Mallick, grade 9

Amber Wee, grade 9

Marketing Exam

Jonny Tang, grade 9