Several students place at or near the top at DECA International competition, Eastlake senior named to the 2025-26 DECA International Executive Officer Team

Jun 24 2025

Approximately 75 Lake Washington School District (LWSD) students were finalists or better at this year’s DECA International Career Development Conference. One pair from Eastlake High School took home first place, a student from Redmond High School also won first place in an event and many others had top tests scores, were finalists and/or finished in the top 10 in several of the categories. This year’s event was held in Orlando, Fla. from April 26-29 with the Grand Awards Session taking place on the final day. More than 23,000 high school students, advisors and business professionals participated at this year’s conference. Students from all four LWSD comprehensive high schools participated.

According to its website, the DECA experience starts in the classroom where students learn business concepts in preparation for college and careers. A powerful instructional component, DECA brings the classroom to life by empowering the teacher-advisor to make learning relevant with educational programs that integrate into classroom instruction, apply learning, connect to business and promote competition. Although only qualifying members may take part in the competitive events series, the conference also offers workshops, academies and networking for students who wish to further their business skills.

Praveena Mahendran, Eastlake High School senior, named to the 2025-26 International Executive Officer Team
Praveena Mahendran is a four-year DECA member, dedicated to empowering others through her leadership and using her passion to enhance DECA’s impact on others. Serving in her dual role as the Washington DECA Area 3 President and Vice President of Finance, Praveena simultaneously works to represent the 2,400+ members in her district and leads statewide philanthropic efforts benefiting the 16,000 members in her association. Praveena also sits on the student-led leadership committee for Washington DECA’s Access & Inclusion Board and has served as a previous two-time chapter officer.

Below is a list of students who either qualified as finalists or placed in the top 10:

Eastlake High School

Anya Mahesh and Sunehri Nog - Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making, First Place
Misha Singh - Apparel and Accessories Marketing, Fifth Place
Pranav Tripathi - Automotive Services Marketing Series, Role Play and Exam, Finalist
Mira Asvin and Bharat Dwivedi - Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making, Finalist
Vihitha Kumar and Akshara Zunnuru - Finance Operations Research, Finalist
Anu Arun and Aashi Uppal - Financial Literacy Project, Finalist
Vishruth Arimanda and Archis Kajale - Financial Services Team Decision Making, Finalist
Vaishnavi Iyer - Food Marketing Series, Finalist
Ananya Prakash - Food Marketing Services, Second Place
Sprahaa Bhattad - Human Resources Management, Second Place
Deyansh Sisodia - Principles of Finance, Finalist
Niha Dinesh - Retail Merchandising Series, Seventh Place
Anika Nallaseth and Akshaya Natarajan - School Based Enterprise - Food Operations, Finalist
Isha Sudhir - Sports and Entertainment Marketing, Second Place
Stephen Lee and Rishan Ray - Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making, Finalist

Juanita High School

Lindsay Chow - Integrated Marketing Campaign – Event, Finalist

Lake Washington High School

Rachel Friend, Manasa Kancharla and Jacob Lee - Buying and Merchandising Operations Research, Second Place
Prayaag Calmidi and Nicholas Pinto - Marketing Management Team Decision Making, Finalist
Ava Brisimitzis and Elise Summers - Marketing Management Team Decision Making, Finalist
Kira Ulrich and Maggie Vanderstelt - School Based Enterprise - Retail Operations, Sixth Place
Brooke Gardner and Logan Schmidt - Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making, Fifth Place

Redmond High School

Varnika Bhargava - Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling, First Place
Anika Chitnis - Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series, Eighth Place
Mehr Poddar - Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series, Finalist
Vaishnavi Vuttravadium - Business Services Marketing Series, Finalist
Sutej Mandadi and Adarsh Prasad - Buying and Merchandising Operations Research, Fifth Place
Anahadh Multani - Entrepreneurship Series, Seventh Place
Dhruv Kasarabada and Rithwick Pal - Financial Services Team Decision Making, Seventh Place
Luke Lee and Mohith Narendra Babu - Hospitality Services Team Decision Making, Fifth Place
Abigail Mathews and Judy Wang - Hospitality Services Team Decision Making, Eighth Place
Stephanie Chen - Quick Serve Restaurant Management Series, Sixth Place
Navya Bhandari - Restaurant and Food Service Management Series, Ninth Place

Top Testing Awards (student name, school and test topic)

Pranav Tripathi, Eastlake High School - Automotive Services Marketing Series
Anika Prakash, Eastlake High School - Business Services Marketing Series
Sunehri Nog, Eastlake High School - Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making
Ananya Prakash, Eastlake High School - Food Marketing Series
Yastika Chouhan, Eastlake High School - Principles of Entrepreneurship
Isha Sudhir, Eastlake High School - Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series
Weilson Geng, Lake Washington High School - Professional Selling
Ella Xu, Redmond High School - Accounting Applications Series
Anika Chitnis, Redmond High School - Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series
Varnika Bhargava, Redmond High School - Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling
Luke Lee, Redmond High School - Hospitality Services Team Decision Making
Siri Mutalik Desai, Redmond High School - Integrated Marketing Campaign - Product
Navya Bhandari, Redmond High School - Restaurant and Food Service Management Series
Sahdah Sivam Narayanan, Redmond High School - Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making
Theodore Chen, Redmond High School - Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making