JEFFERSON CITY -- State Sen. John Loudon, R-West St. Louis County, recently sponsored a Senate resolution honoring Parkway Central High School students who competed in the 57th Annual DECA International Career Development Conference in April at the Orlando County Convention Center in Florida.

"This competition was a great experience for these students," said Sen. Loudon. "They had the opportunity to compete against some of the best DECA teams in the country."

Parkway Central students who participated were:

• Ross Calliot and David Roberts - third place in E-commerce Management Team Decision Making
• Wendy Goldstein - top 10 in Apparel and Accessories Management Level
• Tyler Altrup - first place in Retail Merchandising Management Level

DECA is a nonprofit, student-centered association of marketing students who are interested in marketing management and entrepreneurship.

In order to qualify for the International Career Development Conference competition, students had to win local, regional and state/provincial levels across the United States, Canada and in the U.S. territories.

"It took a tremendous amount of dedication and hard work to qualify for this event," Sen. Loudon said.

More than 7,000 DECA students competed at the International Career Development Conference applying marketing, management and entrepreneurship skills they have learned in DECA to real-world business situations. In business reports, exams, business presentations, role-plays and computer simulations, these students diagnosed business problems and offered realistic, workable solutions.