Shelter Island students bring home medals from DECA competition

Five Shelter Island students went to Rochester last week and brought home three top 10 medals in the New York State DECA competition. The five were among 10 trophy winners who competed in regional competition at Suffolk County Community College’s Selden campus in January.

DECA — previously known as the Distributive Education Clubs of America — affords students the opportunity to compete in business skill categories, including role playing, selling, hospitality and tourism, job interviews and a host of other disciplines.

At the January regional competition there were more than 1,000 studentsvying for honors. Several thousand faced off last week at the state DECA competition.

Guidance Counselor Martha Tuthill accompanied the five to Rochester. Tyler Gulluscio and Emmett Cummings won three top 10 medals. Mr. Cummings won a medal in professional selling while Mr. Gulluscio won a medal in role playing and a second for his overall competition.

Ms. Tuthill, who a few years ago brought the DECA program to Shelter Island from Greenport, where she previously worked, noted that Domingo ‘Junior’ Gil, Bradley Batten and Zeb Mundy had all performed well at the regionals and deserved credit for their efforts at the state level.

When DECA first started on Shelter Island, 13 students signed up for the program that has now grown to 33. Today, math teacher James Theinert has joined Ms. Tuthill in leading the group and helping students to prepare for the competitions.

Club members have also taken field trips to visit such venues as the New York Stock Exchange, Spotify’s Manhattan office and Barclays Center to learn about sports marketing.