DECA Students Excel at State Competition and Advance to Internationals

Dozens of Holt and Timberland High School marketing students joined 1,700 of their Missouri counterparts for the 65^th Missouri DECA State Career Development Conference at the Lodge of Four Seasons at the Lake of the Ozarks on March 17-19. During the statewide conference, DECA members were evaluated by more than 100 business and industry professionals who served as competitive event judges. 

Students competed as individuals or in teams in a variety of categories, and were asked to solve realistic workplace problems through one-on-one interaction with an executive or community member. Twenty-five WSD students qualified for the DECA International Career Development Conference/Competition in Anaheim, California on April 24-28. 

The winners from Holt were Courtney Jones, Ally Berry, Karlie Cavanaugh, Paige David, Sarah Wright, Olivia Bogolin, Abi Corbett, Alyssa Huffman, Josh Gilmore, Max Scholle, Brian Birza, David Jack and Nathan Hinds. 

The Timberland winners were Roshan Poptani, Sean McGuire, Mady Young, Kristen Kaestner, Jordan Brown, Morgann Mueller, Taylor Wenger, Bre Eckert, Shae Strom, Matt Thies, Aaron Owens and Kelsie Eckert.

The theme of this year’s conference, "SHINE!" focused on professional development, leadership, dressing for success, and community service.

Missouri students also raised funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association as part of DECA’s international civic consciousness project. 

DECA is an international association of high school students studying marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, and marketing sales and service. For more information, visit www.deca.org.

From the Wentzville School District

Holt Band presents "An Evening with the Boston Brass"

The Wentzville Holt High School Band will present:

“An Evening with the Boston Brass” 

on Monday, April 8^th at 7:00 p.m. the in C.H. Jones Auditorium.  Advance tickets are $8.00 for adults and $4.00 for non-band member students.  Tickets will be $10.00 and $5.00 at the door.  All band members from Wentzville Middle School and Holt High School will be admitted free.

For 26 years, Boston Brass has set out to establish a one-of-a-kind musical experience. From exciting classical arrangements, to burning jazz standards, and the best of the original brass quintet repertoire, Boston Brass treats audiences to a unique brand of entertainment, which captivates all ages. The ensemble's lively repartee, touched with humor and personality, attempts to bridge the ocean of classical formality to delight audiences in an evening of great music and boisterous fun. The philosophy of Boston Brass is to provide audiences with a wide selection of musical styles in unique arrangements, provided in a friendly and fun atmosphere.

The concert is being sponsored by the Wentzville Holt Band Program and the Wentzville Holt Band Boosters with help from area music stores and the Jupiter Band Instrument Company. For advance ticket information please contact Jim Cunningham at jimcunningham@wentzville.k12.mo.us or call 636-327-3876 ext. 26289.

From the Wentzville School District

Holt High School and Stages St. Louis Partner

The Holt High School Theater Department has partnered with Stages St. Louis to present a special performance by the school’s acting students and special needs students. The production, held at Holt on December 11^th, was a “musical revue” that included songs and scenes from a variety of musicals including Annie Get Your Gun and Footloose. The performance was under the direction of Stages Instructor Brent Hunsinger, and was the culmination of a semester-long program that included students from Rob Gleason’s acting class and Stephanie Aubuchon’s essential skills class. “The idea is to integrate every type of high school student with multiple backgrounds into one cohesive unit,” said Hunsinger following the performance. “So you have kids who have disabilities right alongside kids who don’t have disabilities. They work together as a team to create a wonderful performance that hopefully is not only educational for them but entertaining as well.”

Holt junior Aislinn Hartman appreciated the opportunity to participate in the program. “It really changes your perspective about a lot of things. You may not know the other students because most of them are really shy. But then they come to class and they are not as shy and start to talk to people, and we all realize that maybe we’re not so different and we have things in common.”

This is the third year for the program conceived by Holt drama teacher Rob Gleason and Stages Director of Education and Outreach Rob Grumich, who both thought it would be beneficial to pair high school theater students with special needs students for a joint program and performance. “It’s about bringing some kids together who honestly, during the regular school day probably wouldn’t be spending a lot of time together. So even in a small way just breaking down those barriers is ultimately the point of this,” said Grumich. “The importance of this is the shared time working together in collaboration, the getting to know each other and the human life skills that potentially come from a project like this. That’s what we’re really excited about.”  

From the Wentzville School District