Smithtown Students First-Time NY Finalists in Marketing Challenge

Smithtown High School East students and members from DECA, an international business association that teaches students leadership skills, Ryan Micozzi and Janiee Gabrielsen, were one of the three teams selected as national finalists for the Herff Jones Marketing Results Challenge, according to a school news release.

This is the first time a team from New York State was named as a finalist, the release states.

The students were tasked with creating and implementing a marketing campaign that would increase yearbook sales, according to the release.

For the first round of competitions, they created a 10-minute video explaining their market research, findings and sales, the release states.

As finalists, Micozzi and Gabrielsen will be traveling to Palm Desert, California, in January to attend Herff Jones’ International Sales Conference.

They will compete against the other two national finalists by delivering a 30-minute presentation along with 15 minutes of questions from 25 corporate Herff Jones executives, who will act as judges, the release states.

[Photo Caption: Smithtown High School East students and DECA members Ryan Micozzi and Janiee Gabrielsen were one of the three teams selected as national finalists for the Herff Jones Marketing Results Challenge. They are pictured with (from left) Smithtown High School East Principal Ed Thompson, DECA adviser Matt Hennings, Career and Technical Education chairperson Christine LoFrese and DECA adviser Steve Costello.]

[Photo courtesy of the Smithtown Central School District]