Pattonville students shine in competitions

Pattonville School District officials are applauding the recent accomplishments of some of its students, including a pair of high school teams that achieved the highest honors ever by Pattonville students in an international DECA competition in Orlando, Fla.

Chris Webb and Tyler Kuehn, both seniors, placed third on the international level in the travel and tourism management division. Fellow seniors Raketta Eleby and Kiara Bryant placed in the Top 20 on the international level in the buying and merchandising management team division.

DECA is an association of marketing students. The Orlando competition attracted more than 13,000 high school marketing students.

Also of note, Pattonville fourth-grader Jialin Ding brought home a trophy for his performance in a national chess tournament.

A student in the PEGS (Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students) North Program at Drummond Elementary, Ding took part in a national chess tournament in Nashville, Tenn., earlier this month. He finished 16th in his division.

It was Ding's first official tournament performance. He won five games in the seven rounds he played during the three-day competition.