Angels Impress State’s DECA Judges

In a year of stiff competition, two Academy of the Angels DECA competitors rocketed to the top of the state-level event. Francesca Casagrande (’25) of Alpine made the finals in hotel and lodging management and qualified for the International Career Development Conference. Kate Hynes (’24) of Park Ridge, who specialized in sports promotion, earned the highest score in New Jersey for her work in the virtual business challenge.

Casagrande excelled in the individual division at the district and state events.

“I most enjoy being able to challenge myself through the unexpected prompts at DECA, as it allows me to use creativity, out-of-the-box thinking, and work on my presentation and business skills,” she explained. “Each time I compete, I learn more about how to approach certain problems in the business world and how to address them, which will help me in the future. I also enjoy spending time with my fellow teammates and friends, as well as meeting new people at each event.”

Hynes is pleased that her hard work over the past two years resulted in a big win.

“During this past year, I’ve managed to balance my school work, college applications, and extra-curricular activities, so it was really rewarding to finally achieve first place,” Hynes said. “Being a member of DECA has been a great part of my high school experience as well. It was exciting at states this past week to get to hear my name called and to represent Holy Angels. DECA overall has been very valuable to learning about a specific side of the business industry, especially as I navigate my future in college and beyond.”

AHA DECA Adviser Krystal Reilly brought 38 Angels to the state competition held March 4-6 in Atlantic City. Angel competitors included Casagrande; Hynes; Caitlin Carey of Westwood; Elise Tao of Upper Saddle River; Natalie Yoo, Alexa Ferrara, and Lianna Gourmos of Englewood Cliffs; Rachel Lee and Chelsey Park of Palisades Park; Olivia Cutri and Lily Cossio of Tenafly; Sophia Lee of Fort Lee; Daisy Hampton of Old Tappan; Priya Bhagat and Jiyoon Yeo of Closter; Caitlin Deiser of New Milford; Caelyn Lindsay, Lara Kraus, and Kaitlyn Zheng of Englewood; Chloe Kwon of Northvale; Katherine McLoughlin of Rutherford; Sharanya Agarwal of West New York; Rafaelle Zorea of Hoboken; Elena Fiorentinos, Lilly Tsurushima, Amalia Ferolie, Evelyna Pavlatos, and Ava Taylor of Cresskill; Delaney Banek of Hackensack; Eva Cho and  Rachelle Wu of Harrington Park; Sienna Morreale of Edgewater; Claire Lee of Oradell; Mia Diaz of North Bergen; Dylan Cannata of River Vale; Katie Zeong of Edgewater; Valentina Gonzalez of Lodi; and Isabella Zahirudin of Stony Point, New York.

In early February, several Angels received recognition for placing in the top three in role play or on the testing portion of the district competition. Role play award winners included Natalie Yoo, Elise Tao, Olivia Cutri, Rachel Lee, Ava Tripodi, Francesca Casagrande, Lily Cossio, Priya Bhagat, Chloe Kwon, and Caelyn Lindsay. AHA’s testing award winner was Sophia Lee.

Founded by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1879, the Academy of the Holy Angels is the oldest private girls’ school in Bergen County. While AHA is steeped in Catholic tradition, this prestigious school serves young women from many cultural and religious backgrounds. AHA’s current leaders continue to further the SSND mission to provide each student with the tools she needs to reach the fullness of her potential—spiritually, intellectually, socially, and physically, by offering a first-rate education in a nurturing environment where equal importance is placed on academic excellence, character development, moral integrity, and service to others. Schedule a personalized tour at HOLYANGELS.ORG today.