Savvy Students

Fifteen savvy business students from the Academy of the Holy Angels have been inducted into the National Business Honor Society. AHA Business Department Chair Krystal Reilly, who founded and advises the Academy’s NBSH and DECA chapters, led the March 27 induction ceremony.

This year’s inductees are Caelyn Lindsay and Lara Kraus of Englewood, Ava Taylor of Cresskill, Ava Tripodi and Ashley Miskovitz of Emerson, Caitlin Deiser of New Milford, Elise Tao of Upper Saddle River, Mia Tinoco of Ridgefield, Sienna Morreale and Inha Jun of Edgewater, Alexandra Darmanin of Old Tappan, Claire Lee of Oradell, Evangeline Cho of Harrington Park, Rafaelle Zorea of Hoboken, and Sharanya Agarwal of West New York.

Two 2023 inductees, Valerie Rey of River Vale and Alexa Diaz of Fair Lawn, were recognized for being two-year members.

“One unique factor about this year’s ceremony is that we are inducting the largest amount of juniors we have ever had,” Mrs. Reilly noted. “Normally, we have had two or three max, and this year we are inducting eight. We are also inducting seven seniors, and we have two seniors as returning members. It is great to see so many students not only taking business classes, but starting to take them earlier in their high school careers, so they get a variety of courses under their belt by the time they graduate.”

NBHS inductees must successfully complete four or more business courses and maintain an average of 90 or better in their business classes, with an overall GPA of 85 or better. Eligible members must also be active in DECA (formerly Distributive Education Classes of America), an international organization that encourages teens to develop their business and entrepreneurial knowledge through competition.

The inductees delivered the prayer their peers wrote for the ceremony. The Angels expressed their desire to make ethical and moral business decisions, and lead by example in male-dominated careers.

Reilly, who established AHA’s NBHS chapter in 2018, welcomed the Academy’s seven charter members in the spring of 2019. AHA has been participating in DECA since the 2018-19 season, when the Academy qualified for its first state competition. In 2022, AHA’s team qualified for the DECA International Career Development Conference for the first time. Team members also qualified in 2023 and again in 2024.