High School Students Honored at 9th Annual Leadership Competition

The Young Professionals Chamber of Commerce (YPCC), a program of the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, hosted its Ninth Annual Business Leadership Competition at Farmingdale State College on Wednesday, November 30. This year more than 300 high school students from 14 local high schools, including Commack, Deer Park, Farmingdale, Half Hollow Hills East, Half Hollow Hills West, Harborfields, Hauppauge, Huntington, North Shore, Northport, Oyster Bay, St. Dominic’s, Walt Whitman, and Wilson Technological Center participated. A luncheon and awards ceremony followed the competition.

The competition provided students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge through presentations in categories including Fashion Marketing, Hospitality Services, Advertising, Graphic Design, Travel and Tourism, Sales Demonstration, Sports Management, Sports Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Job Interview Skills.

 This event was made possible through the generosity of this year’s sponsors: Adelphi University, Briarcliffe College, Farmingdale State College, Five Towns College, Dowling College, Gundermann and Gundermann Insurance, Astoria Federal Savings, JVC Broadcasting, Oyster Bay Rotary, North Shore Financial Group, Sunrise Outdoor Advertising and the New York Islanders.

 2011 YPCC Business Leadership Competition Winners

Fashion Marketing – Team A:
First Place: Emily Bealey and Karissa Doyle, Wilson Tech
Second Place: Julia Callan and Alicia Baccarella, Farmingdale
Honorable Mention: Samantha Dever, Huntington

Fashion Marketing – Team B:
First Place: Olivia Knott and Jackie Calamari, Walt Whitman
Second Place: Tess Boutros and Kiera Coyne, St. Dominic’s
Honorable Mention: Nia Thomas and Brittany Saal, Deer Park

Hospitality Services:
First Place: Aneesh Shah and Cody Micholowski, Half Hollow Hills East
Second Place: Nicholas Scover and Kevin Osse, Walt Whitman
Honorable Mention: Dillon Scott and Brian Cheuh, Commack
Honorable Mention: Joshua Arnow and Michael Winning, John Glenn

Advertising – Team A:
First Place: Jake Sonenblum and Jared Silverberg, Half Hollow Hills East
Second Place: Jonathan O’Kane and Chantel Durgana, Commack
Honorable Mention: Shaune Killough and Adam Larender, North Shore

Advertising – Team B:
First Place: Hannah Lomele, Huntington
Second Place: Sydney O’Gorman and Ami Munim, Northport
Honorable Mention: Victoria Curcio and Nicole Elkins, Hauppauge

Graphic Design:
First Place: Michael Conklin and Deidre Keirns, Wilson Tech
Second Place: Bryan Moore, Commack
Honorable Mention: Kayla Rakower, Commack

Sports Management:
First Place: Amanda Garcia and Melissa Guida, St. Dominic’s
Second Place: Spencer Hagler, Half Hollow Hills East
Honorable Mention: Dustin Feynman, Farmingdale

Sports Marketing:
First Place: Jeff Cherkin, Half Hollow Hills East
Second Place: Chris McPartland, Walt Whitman
Honorable Mention: John Christoforatos and John DeFalco, Northport

Travel and Tourism – Team A:
First Place: Mike McFelia and Greg Linden, Walt Whitman
Second Place: Jackie Judson and Genny Dean, Northport

Travel and Tourism – Team B:
First Place: Dan Purcell and Tyler Wojcik, Northport
Second Place: Sasha Moore, Harborfields

Entrepreneurship – Team A:
First Place: Sal Sherman and Alexis Napoli, Farmingdale
Second Place: Justin Denardo, Commack

Entrepreneurship – Team B:
First Place: Areeta Shah and Eric Gesuale, Half Hollow Hills East
Second Place: Juliet Bibla and Angelica Green, Oyster Bay

Sales Demonstration:
First Place: Jordan O’Donnell and Drew Greenberg, Half Hollow Hills East
Second Place: John Guido and Ryan Persaud, Half Hollow Hills West
Honorable Mention: Danielle Cardito & Jessica Maniscalco, Half Hollow Hills West

Job Interview – 9^th and 10^th Grade:
First Place: Taylor Veracka, Hauppauge
Second Place: Eric Steinberg, Half Hollow Hills East

Job Interview – 11^th and 12^th Grade – Team A:
First Place: Daniel Jayson, Half Hollow Hills West
Second Place: Michael Fisher, Commack

Job Interview – 11^th and 12^th Grade – Team B:
First Place: Andrea Fortunato, Northport
Second Place: Amanda Kaufman, St. Dominic’s

Job Interview (Life Skills)
First Place: Ashley Harrelson, Hauppauge
Second Place: Ryan Phelan, Hauppauge

The distinguished panel of judges included: Michael Agnes, Bank of America; Alex Borg, Borg, Borg and Borg Insurance; Sara Bluestone, Leadership Huntington; Vincent Casillo, North Shore Financial Group; Michael DeCristofaro, Edward Jones; Anthony DeVito, DeVito Group; Christopher G. Erckert, CGE Ventures; Karen Fischer, Home Depot; Patricia Grant, Gundermann and Gundermann Insurance; Camille Savino Koorey, CJ2 Communications Strategies; Maureen Leslie, Adelphi University; Toni Loschiavo, Dowling College; Joe Maddalone, JRM Coaching and Consulting; Jim McGowan, Adelphi University; Christopher Melz, My Own T-Shirts; Bill Mitchell, Huntington Chamber of Commerce; Sarah Novak, New York Islanders; Jennifer Paretta, Bellmore-Merrick School District; Mark Perel, Homestead Window Treatments; Jackie Pevera, Farmingdale State College; Diane Portigiano, Digho; Evan Proios, Briarcliffe College; Anuj Rihal, AXA Advisors; Robert Romano, Farmingdale State College; Morgan Rooney, BAE Systems; Jessica Rosenthal, Saf-T-Swim; Brian Rothschild, Adelphi University; Michael Smith;William Steedle, Farmingdale State College; Jim Werner, Halliday Financial Group and Judy Wasilchuk, Laffey Associates.

ABOUT THE YOUNG PROFESSIONALS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE:

As a division of the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, the YPCC was established to engage high school students, college students and young entrepreneurs to enhance their leadership skills in a professional environment interacting with business executives, community leaders, educators and other young adults. The YPCC offers guest speakers, networking opportunities, skill and resume building, entrepreneur workshops, internships and more. We believe that the strength of our School-Business Partnership through the Chamber of Commerce enables us to provide educational initiatives to the dynamic students who are our future business leaders of tomorrow. For more information, contact Linda Mitchell at (631) 423-6100, ext.16 or visit www.huntingtonchamber.com.