After months of preparation, 20 DECA students traveled to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho last weekend to compete in the 2018 Collegiate DECA Pacific Northwest Career Development Conference (PNCDC).

At the conference, Shoreline DECA members competed in business events such as Ethics, Emerging Technologies, International Marketing, Human Resource Management, and Event Planning. Competition included 100 peers from Gonzaga, Seattle University, Western Washington, Bellevue College, Spokane Community College, and North Idaho. Sixteen Shoreline DECA students have now earned the opportunity to represent Shoreline Community College at the International Career Development Conference in Washington D.C. April 11-14.

Students placing in the Top 3 for their events:

Anna Vu – 1^st Place in Sales Management Meeting
Madeline Kimberley – 1^st Place in Human Resource Management
Amro Habash – 1^st Place in Entrepreneurship
Yorin Anggari and Gary Wu – 2^nd Place in Event Planning
Rielly Kemp-Bye and Xiaohu Shangguan – 2^nd Place in Ethics
Euginia Wong and Davira Shaffena – 2^nd Place in Financial Statement Analysis
Krittawat Pattaramekanon – 2^nd Place in Travel & Tourism
Tina Tang & Sylvia Pan – 2^nd Place in Marketing Communications
Hailey Leung – 2^nd Place in Advertising Campaign
Luis Vicencio – 3^rd Place in Restaurant Management
Mary Chen – 3^rd Place in Accounting

Collegiate DECA prepares future leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. There are 15,000 Collegiate DECA members on 275 college and university campuses around the world. This year’s Shoreline DECA team includes members from the US, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Jordan, and Thailand.

All students are welcome to join DECA, regardless of major. Fall Kick-off will take place the first Tuesday after classes resume in Fall quarter. Faculty Advisors are Ailsa Kellam, Kyle Winslow, Matt Lothyan, and Stephen McCloskey.

In October, Honda PACT program graduate Rob Dykstra won 1^st place in the regional Honda TopTech competition in Portland. On January 24, 2018, he was crowned Honda’s National TopTech Champion.

Rob is a sharp guy and there’s no doubt his intelligence, his passion for Honda, and his desire to fix cars right the first time led to his recent accomplishment. Yet he attributes much of his success to the Honda technology education he received in the PACT program at Shoreline. Rob graduated from the Honda PACT Program in 2005.

“I think the PACT program helped a lot in the competition,” he said. “From the beginning of the PACT program you learn the basics and also how to diagnose problems efficiently. I could always hear my instructor in my head telling me not to forget the small stuff.”

The voice Dykstra was hearing in his head was that of Shoreline Community College PACT instructor Bob Biesiedzinski, who is justifiably proud of his former pupil. “Rob Dykstra is a living example of the Honda Spirit and Philosophy,” Biesiedzinski said. “He demonstrates great knowledge and patience as he works tirelessly to ensure that customers’ cars are properly repaired.”

As National TopTech Champion Rob will be invited to Japan in 2019 to compete against the champions from other countries in the first Honda World Technician Contest. We’re positive Rob will represent the US, American Honda, and PACT well. The Honda PACT Program at Shoreline Community College is very proud of Rob’s accomplishments and wishes him the best as he moves forward in this important contest!