After the three day long DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) State Leadership Conference, Champe took home a total of nine glass trophies, five chapter awards, and 24 medals! In the first night of the conference the Champe Chapter received the following awards: Region 1 largest chapter membership increase based on percentage, Region 1 largest chapter membership increase based on number, largest chapter in Region 1, Blue Chip Award, and outstanding advisor awards for Mr. Lucas and Ms. Brown. On night two, medals were given out to top placers in roleplay and in testing for each category. The following students received a medal in role-play #1: Maximus Smith, Deetya Cheerka, Avnitha Guggilla, Rupin Thamdsetty, Om Mahadik, Zia Kotadiya, Frederick Mansah, and Parsa Hosseini. In addition, these students received medals in role-play #2: Josiah Powell, Dheetya Levaku, Gloria Dawood, Rishi Parekh. There were also multiple students who received medals for role-play #1 and #2: Christina Thomas, Laila Naqvi, and Aditya Kalva. For TDM (Team Decision Making) the following students received awards for their roleplay: Anna Wiley and Rithvika Yenugula, Sana Said and Jeslene Kaur, Rohan and Roshni Konaki, Rithvik Bandigari and Swarit Prasad, Ram Ineni and Rishi Movva, and Balajishnu Yabaluri and Bhuvanedh Yampally. One of our members, Mahmoud Khatab was chosen as the 2025-2026 Virginia DECA Region 1 Vice President, continuing the school spirit after former Vice President Nripesh Dahal retires from his term. On the last day of the conference, there were 34 students who placed in their event and are representing John Champe High School at ICDC (International Career Development Conference) held in Orlando, Florida in Apr. There were additionally three SBE (Student Based Enterprises) that placed and are advancing to ICDC: Durga Ghanta and Vasudha Kolluri placed 3rd, Shreyu Sharma and Reid Baker placed 7th, and Anica Koul and Roshnni Meera Rajeshkannan received 9th. Overall it was a great weekend for John Champe as students brought home a multitude of different awards.
“SLC this year was a culmination of everyone’s efforts, our students practiced hard and were awarded as we deserved as a chapter,” teacher Patrick Lucas said. “I couldn’t be more proud of these who qualified and competed in general; it takes a lot to challenge yourself with these kinds of experiences.”
