Indian Hill High School DECA Student Earns International Finalist Honors

Cristina Dos Santos advances to finals at global competition in Atlanta

The Indian Hill School District celebrates Indian Hill High School DECA students who represented the Braves on the international stage at the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC), held April 25–29 in Atlanta. Sixteen students competed among thousands of top-performing peers from around the world in DECA’s highest level of competition.

Leading the way, Cristina Dos Santos delivered an exceptional performance in the Hotel and Lodging event, advancing to the final round and earning recognition as a top 20 finalist out of approximately 150 competitors. Her placement distinguished her among the top performers globally and marked her as the only Indian Hill student to reach the finals at this year’s conference.

“Cristina’s accomplishment is a remarkable testament to her preparation, professionalism, and ability to perform at the highest level,” said Susan Schonauer, who teaches marketing at Indian Hill High School in collaboration with Great Oaks and serves as an advisor for DECA. “To advance to finals on the international stage is an extraordinary achievement, and we are incredibly proud of how she represented Indian Hill.”

“Our DECA students continue to demonstrate what it means to apply learning beyond the classroom,” said Indian Hill High School Principal Andy Gruber. “Cristina’s success at the international level reflects not only her individual commitment, but also the strength of the experiences and opportunities available to our students.”

The students who advanced to the international competition qualified through their success at the state level.

DECA is a career and technical student organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs with a career interest in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. DECA enhances preparation for college and careers by providing co-curricular programs that integrate into classroom instruction, apply learning, connect to business, and promote competition. Student members leverage their DECA experience to become academically prepared, community-oriented, professionally responsible, and experienced leaders. DECA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with nearly 250,000 members in 4,000 high school and college chapters in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Germany.

Indian Hill High School student Cristina Dos Santos advanced to finals at the DECA global competition in Atlanta. Photo provided.