Salt Lake City, Utah. – Connor Brashear and Austin Bush became the first students from Washington DECA to place 1^st at the international career development conference.  Washington has had several 3^rd place finishers and event finalists, but never a first overall winner.  They were one of fifteen teams left after the initial round narrowed the competition down from 100 teams.

“Connor and I are very proud to be the first international winners in any event from Washington High School and to represent the city of Washington,” said Bush.  Twenty –five teams from each of the four geographic regions qualify for ICDC by managing a stock portfolio during the 1^st semester of the school year.  The top 25 teams qualified based on their overall portfolio value as compared to the S&P 500 index.  Brashear and Bush had to present their stock portfolio, selling the judges on the fundamentals of their selections and how they created a diversified portfolio. Bush commented that “Connor and I were able to perform well not only from hard work but the experience we have gotten from our own investments.  Terminology was very important and we were able to prove we understood this by talking about investment terms such as BETA, PE, PEG, EPS and Return on Equity.” The presentation lasted 10 minutes followed by the judges asking questions testing the student’s knowledge of stock market terminology.  Bush went on to say, “It has been a goal of mine to win the international competition although we knew it wouldn’t come easy.  Together, Connor and I spent many hours researching, putting together, and continually changing our presentation until we felt it portrayed what we wanted to explain and accomplish.  After qualifying for the top 15, I knew in my mind it was our time to go for it and contend to win because of all our time and efforts it took to get there.”

According the Brashear “The stock market follows the exact same guiding principles as life itself, and can be seen as symbolic for life’s lessons; if you work hard, show diligence and dedication, and hold on with patience, then everything begins to turn positive.” Both boys commented on the loss of loved ones this past year.  Brashear said, “It’s been a rough few months with the loss of two of our greatest friends,  Derek and Zach, but with their help, we were able to follow these guiding principles and do great things.”  Bush said, “I would like to dedicate this honor to Sarah Eaton (grandmother), Zach Blubaum and Derek Arvin.  They have been an inspiration to me.”  Both Brashear and Bush went on the say, ”We would like to thank both Sarah Browning and Eric Bassler.  They listened to our presentation and their input helped us in improving our presentation.”

DECA hosted its 66^th annual International Career Development Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 28-May 2, 2012.  The ICDC is DECA’s highest level of competition and encompasses career-focused competitions in finance, hospitality and tourism, marketing, management and entrepreneurship.  Drawing more than 15,000 DECA students, advisors, alumni and affiliated businesspeople from all 50 states and around the world, the 5-day conference will pump an estimated $14 million in the Salt Lake City-area economy.

During the school year, approximately 120,000 of DECA’s 200,000 student members take part in the organization’s Competitive Events Program, where they vie with one another at local and state competitions.  The events include real-life business scenarios and project presentations that are designed to test students’ academic understanding and skills development, as well as DECA’s overall program strength.  The top state/provincial winners put their talents to the test during the program’s final round of competition in Salt Lake City.

Also participating at ICDC but not advancing to the finals were:  the team of Abby McCormick, Mikala Barber and Madi Heacock in the Community Service Project; Anna Schilling, Stevee Craney and Cortni King in the Learn and Earn Project;  Kyla Miles and Drew Brothers in the  Public Relations Project; Maddie Forte and Kelsey Conolty in the Financial Literacy Promotion Project; Heath Goodwin in the Entrepreneurship Written Event; Blake Harner, Tiffany Ervin and Jake Brashear attended leadership workshops.

The sixteen students also made side trips to Park City, the great Salt Lake and Snowbird Ski Resort.  Next years ICDC will be held in Anaheim, California.

Brashear wrapped up his thoughts by saying, “ICDC in Orlando last year was great being an International finalist.  Salt Lake City was obviously even better winning first place.  All I can say is . . . Bring on Anaheim.”  Brashear was also elected Indiana DECA’s state president at the state conference in March.  For the next year, he will lead the 12 member Indiana DECA state officer team and the entire Indiana DECA association.  Additional Washington DECA members that were elected to serve on next year’s state officer team include Anna Schilling, Vice-President of Communications and Blake Harner, District 10 President.

WHS provides a growing program in which the application based curriculum is leading to increased student interest and achievement.  Program participation has risen in recent years as instructors are connecting student learning to the reality that our local and global economy is becoming driven by technology, scientific, and mathematical applications.  Southwestern Indiana is becoming a key player in the engineering landscape, as the C.R.A.N.E. Technology Park continues to expand in our area.

WHS Project Lead the Way instructors provide experience in the field, providing student opportunities in Introduction to Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering, and Civil Engineering Applications.

“It is our goal to connect student learning to real life contexts and applications,” stated PLTW instructor Cory Cooper, who is in his first year at WHS after leading successful PLTW programs in central Indiana.  “We also want to build the program to the point that our students are competing at the state and national level in competitions and projects sponsored by PLTW.  Due to the increased interest in the program, we believe our goal to compete can be achieved.”

Also, WHS is proud to announce that PLTW instructor Corry Cooper recently received a innovative teacher award from Peabody, Inc.  For more information on this award, visit the Peabody Energy Leaders in Education website.

For more information about Project Lead the Way, contact Mr. Cooper or Mr. Johnston at WHs at 812-254-3860 Ext 322, or contact Maria Killion, WHS Director of Guidance at 812-254-3860 Ext 234.

“This is a positive step in our intensive effort to improve all academic areas of our school,” said Paul White, WHS Principal.  “I am excited that we have raised the rate and what that means for those additional students in our school who were able to get their diplomas.”

Some of the efforts that lead to the increase included more one-on-one attention and support for students who were struggling academically and increased interaction with the school counseling department to present student with options for staying in school, such as flexible scheduling and credit recovery, which allows students who have failed classes to retake them and keep on track to graduate with their classmates.

“Our teachers and counselors have really stepped up and implemented our vision to keep more students in school and provide additional support to help them be successful, and it has really made the difference,” said White.

In a time where student data drives many decisions, including funding formulas and improvement goals, graduation rates are part of the equation to maintain the health and growth of the school corporation.  It is one of many factors that make up the new letter grading system that the IDOE has adopted.

“School goals have to be aligned with the state’s accountability model to ensure we are putting our focus in the right places to help students succeed,” said White.  “Graduation rates for us not only mean that we see more students become successful, but that we also see our school as a whole reflected in a more positive light because of their achievements.”

Improvement in the academic data at WHS, specifically in the areas of English and Algebra scores, also lead to the school receiving a rating of Academic Progress this fall, taking them off of the state probation list.  Programs that were implemented to increase these scores include Algebra That Works, which is a mastery learning-based concept that requires students to show competency in the standards to move forward in the curriculum.  Intensive writing instruction in language arts classes, as well as Writing Across the Curriculum initiatives in all subject areas, have lead to growth in English test scores, too.

“I am extremely proud of our school and the direction in which we are heading.  Our students and faculty have worked hard during these improvements, and it is great to be recognized for the academic success we are experiencing,” said White.