Indian Hills has many clubs that compete at the district, state, and national levels, including DECA, Model United Nations, and Academic Decathlon. DECA is a business club where students come up with creative solutions to real-world issues. Model United Nations is a club focused on developing skills in teamwork, leadership, and public speaking. Academic Decathlon challenges students to work as a team, testing their knowledge in ten subjects like Economics and developing their public speaking and interview skills. These clubs allow students to enhance their knowledge of the world and compete against the top students in the world.
DECA
Indian Hills DECA was very successful at the State Career Development Conference in Atlantic City, NJ, from March 4th to March 6th. Delegates competed in individual role-plays, team decision-making, and professional selling events. Below is a list of the mini-awards for presentations and tests as well as the qualifiers to represent New Jersey DECA at the International Competition in Orlando, Florida. Below is a list of winners from the state competition.
Joseph Tafuri Del Vecchio – PFL Roleplay Mini Award, Qualifier
Julia Lupean – BTDM Test, Qualifier
Grace Dietrich – BTDM Test, Qualifier
Morgan Quill – STDM Role-Play, Qualifier
Miranda Civadlic – STDM Role-Play, Qualifier
Gaby Becker – HTPS Role-Play, Qualifier
Zareen Admani – RMS Test, Role-Play, Qualifier
Luke Festa – FTDM Qualifier
Justin Vitale – FTDM Qualifier
Stefan Randazzo – ETDM Qualifier
Murad Avenesyan – ETDM Qualifier
Peter Maklouf – BSM Test, Qualifier
Tanaya Shah – HLM Test
Ava D’Antonio – RFS Test
Ben Piotrowski – BSMTest
Isa Saldano – AAM Test
Gaby Becker – Northern Region Scholarship Recipient
Isa Saldano – Northern Region Scholarship Recipient
Tristan Casella – NJDECA Northern Region Vice President
Grace Dietrich – Pin Design Winner
Model United Nations
Indian Hills Model United Nations members participated in the XXVI Academy Model United Nations Conference hosted at Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, NJ. This conference took place on February 6th and later February 13th due to a snow day. Indian Hills Delegates showed their problem-solving, communication, and negotiation skills in the conference and won the Outstanding Large Delegation Award. Below is a list of the individual awards received by members.
Outstanding Delegation: Daniel Stolper and Andrew Fox, representing Turkey in DISEC
Outstanding Delegate: Gabby Romm, representing Aegir in a Specialized Committee
Honorable Mention: Isabella Manias, representing Germany in ECOFIN
Honorable Mention: Eleanor Garcia, representing Thailand in WHO
Honorable Mention: Gaby Becker, representing Nigeria in CSW
Academic Decathlon
The Indian Hills Academic Decathlon team placed 3rd at the State Finals on Saturday, March 1st and has advanced to the Online Nationals. The team performed exceptionally well, with many students earning awards in the Honors, Scholastic, and Varsity divisions. Below is a list of students who received awards at the State Competition.
Honors Division Regular Team
Honorable Mention in Literature: Alexander Noerr
Gold in Essay, Honorable Mention in Interview; MVP & highest score on the team: Matthew Khanlian
Scholastic Division Regular Team
Bronze in Interview: Andrew Jabaly
Gold in Music, Silver in Math, Bronze in Economics, Honorable mention in Literature & Speech, and Highest overall scorer in the Scholastic Division in NJ: Zachary Brothers
Varsity Division Regular Team
Gold in Interview and Speech, Honorable Mention in Math: Jonas Hoen
Honors Division Alternate Team
Gold in Science, Silver in Art & Literature, Bronze in Economics, and Second Second-Highest Overall scorer in the Alternate Honors Division in NJ: Jia Yi Li
Bronze in Literature & Science: Bridgette Brown
Gold in Music: Katelyn Douma
Scholastic Division Alternate Team
Bronze in Economics: Liam Matusevich
Overall, Indian Hills students have thrived at recent DECA, Model UN, and Academic Decathlon competitions. Good luck to all the students competing in the national competitions.