Littleton High School Junior “Brings Home Glass” from DECA International Career Development Conference

LITTLETON — Superintendent Kelly Clenchy is proud to share that Littleton High School junior Harish Ganesh earned third place globally in Financial Consulting at the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC). 

Littleton’s DECA Chapter was established just two years ago, with only 12 committed members. Of those 12, three students made it to states in their first competition year, and none to ICDC. 

This year, the member count skyrocketed to 40, 10 qualified for states, and three talented students — sophomores Anika Jacob and Aarya Wachasunder and junior Harish Ganesh — earned their spots at ICDC. 

The six-day event took place in Anaheim. More than 20,000 students, teachers-advisors, business professionals, and alumni gathered for two days of competition. During the remainder of the event, attendees participated in activities to network and have fun, including visiting the Disney and Universal theme parks.

Jacob and Wachasunder competed in the Entrepreneurship Team Decision-Making Event and Ganesh in Financial Consulting. 

There were 180 competitors in Ganesh’s event. Students were divided into groups to compete, and two people from each group were selected for the finals. 

Scores from the competition, a written exam, and a presentation were used to determine final rankings, which were announced at an awards ceremony on the last day of the conference. 

During the ceremony, competitors were called to the stage by event. When it was time to recognize the winners in Financial Consulting, Ganesh joined 10 finalists, all eager to hear their names announced. 

Moments later, Ganesh was declared as the third-place winner.

“When they announced Harish as the third place winner, he jumped on the stage, threw up his hands, and ran to accept his award,” said LHS Teacher Madison Smith, who accompanied students to ICDC. “We are all so proud of his efforts and congratulate him on this monumental achievement!”

Ganesh noted that the experience was challenging, but he had a great time. He did not forget to thank everything who helped him along the way, ultimately leading to his recognition as an international award winner. 

“This experience was awesome. It was different than district or state competitions, as it was more intense and more fun,” said Ganesh. “I really want to recognize everyone who helped me succeed, including our baseball Coach Dave Eschen, who not only helped me himself but brought in his colleagues in finance to help me go through my presentation. Thank you to Ms. Smith who took five days off of work to attend the conference with me and was a huge support throughout the entire process. And thank you to local lawyer Sherrill Gould, who donated funds that helped us be able to attend ICDC! I couldn’t have done this without you.”

Only six teams from Massachusetts “brought home glass” from ICDC.

“Congratulations to Harish, Anika, and Aarya on being the first three students to attend ICDC in Littleton’s history,” said Superintendent Clenchy. “To qualify for this international competition is a feat in itself, and to be recognized as a third-place winner out of students from across the globe is an immense accomplishment. This remarkable achievement is well-deserved. We cannot wait to see what our DECA members do next!”

For more information on the DECA International Career Development Conference, click here. The list of ICDC winners and the awards ceremony video can be viewed here. Ganesh can be seen accepting his award at the 1 hour, 28-minute mark.