Members of the high school’s DECA Club have received numerous honors at competitions for their work on various levels this past school year. Students were honored with Suffolk County Legislative Proclamations from Legislator Steve Stern and certificates from the district for their achievements.

Four students earned honorable mention in the Suffolk County competition, with 13 taking home trophies. Kayla Downs won first place in Suffolk County for her project in Food Marketing, while Alyssa Orzo won third place in Apparel & Accessories. At the New York State competition, held in Rochester, four students were named in the top ten. These included Andreas Stamataskis, who also took first-place honors in the county, for Principles of Marketing, Magnolia Chiri and Merly Bonilla for the Professional Selling Event and Phil Scarfi for Food Marketing. Additionally, Merly and Magnolia were invited to participate in the Senior Management Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah.

According to Deer Park High School DECA advisor Greg Menig, DECA is open to any student who has taken a business class at the high school, and covers fields such as marketing, business management and administration, finance and hospitality. The club participates in regional, state and national competitions throughout the year.