Mound Westonka High School made history this year by sending a record-breaking 49 students to the 2025 DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC)—one of the premier competitions for high school business and marketing students around the world.

Held April 25-29 in Orlando, Florida, the ICDC brought together more than 25,000 top-performing students from nearly every U.S. state, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and China. Competitors aimed to earn one of DECA’s coveted “glass trophies,” awarded to the top three finishers in each category.

MWHS had the third-largest delegation among Minnesota schools, with students competing in a wide variety of events including marketing, finance, entrepreneurship, and virtual business simulations. Notably, MWHS juniors Sophia Kravchenko and Lauren Russ took third in the International Business Plan event, earning MWHS its first-ever third place glass trophy. 

When preparing for Internationals, Kravachenko and Russ prioritized making their paper unique and memorable. “We also made sure our presentation was fun and stood out with interactive elements and a demonstration to keep the judges' attention between all the more boring information,” Russ explained.

“Hearing our name called [for third place at ICDC] felt like a confirmation of all the work we had put in over the past seven months on our paper and presentation,” said Kravachenko. “We were both shocked and overwhelmed with excitement - this was a dream come true for both of us!”

Other standout MWHS performances from ICDC included:

• Seniors Emma Carlson and Tor Erdahl earned a high presentation medal
• Juniors Georgia Harmer and Maria Sells advanced to finals in School-Based Enterprise – Retail, finishing in the Top 20 nationwide
• Juniors Hayden Dehmer, Leon Kravchenko and George Pettitt advanced to finals in the Virtual Business Challenge – Sports, placing 10th globally
• Seniors Sabrina Kaganovsky and Elliott Lang and ninth grader Will Mitlyng reached the finals in the Start-Up Business Plan event, finishing in sixth place

This year also marked the first time MWHS advanced a Start-Up Business Plan, an International Business Plan, a School-Based Enterprise – Food, and a Virtual Business Challenge – Retail Track entry to the international level.