05/12/15 sry
Twelve students from Fort Hays State University's DECA chapter received awards and the chapter's president received a scholarship after traveling to the 2015 Collegiate DECA International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Fla.

Eight students received the Blue Diamond Leadership Passport and four were finalists. To earn recognition as either a Blue Diamond or Gold Diamond in DECA's passport programs, students are required to demonstrate DECA's core values: competence, innovation, integrity and teamwork.

The FHSU Blue Diamond recipients are: Daisy Saavedra, Garden City junior majoring in tourism and hospitality management; Gage Kirwan, Gretna, Neb., sophomore majoring in business; Tyler Ballard, Omaha, Neb., freshman majoring in accounting; Josey Vandiver, Robinson senior majoring in tourism and hospitality management; Valeria Manriquez, Liberal senior majoring in tourism and hospitality management; Cinar Karakus, Alanya, Turkey, senior majoring in marketing; Jose Ponce, McDonald junior majoring in marketing; and Michaela Diercks, Minneapolis junior majoring in marketing.

The FHSU Blue Diamond finalist were Gustavo Reyes, Garden City senior majoring in organizational leadership; Brittany Ballou, Hastings, Neb., senior majoring in business education; Joanna Ferrell, Lenexa senior majoring in marketing; and Micah Fabarez, Concordia sophomore majoring in management.

The president for Kansas' collegiate DECA chapters, Felix Albl, was awarded the $1,500 NAPA Collegiate Scholarship. Four other students from across the country were awarded the scholarship after being selected from 25 semi-finalists.

Albl is a junior from Germany majoring in tourism and hospitality management. He came to Kansas because his father was in the German military and stationed at Fort Leavenworth. Albl graduated from Lansing High School in 2012 and stayed in America to attend college at FHSU when his family moved back to Germany.

DECA is an international marketing club with high school and collegiate chapters who compete against each other in business areas.

DECA has 215,000 members in 3,500 high schools and 275 colleges.