Schools

Richfield High's DECA Program Receives National Recognition—Again

With the award, the team members earn a trip to Anaheim, CA.

Editor's Note: The following is a Richfield High School DECA press release.

Richfield High School’s DECA chapter has earned the prestigious Gold Level Certification for the operation of its School-Based Enterprise (SBE), the “Spartan Avenue” store. This certification earns team members a trip to the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Anaheim, CA on April 24-27 where they will participate in the SBE Academy to receive their awards and compete for top national honors. This year’s award is a re-certification of the store’s original certification earned in 2012.

The certification award marks the second time in the history of Richfield High School that its school store has been recognized nationally. At the 2012 ICDC, Richfield students competed against representatives of 119 Gold Level Certified school stores and captured 6th place national honors. DECA operates in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, Canada, Germany and Mexico. DECA has nearly 200,000 members nationwide. There are over 5,000 high schools in the United States with active DECA chapters, and in 2012-2013 there were 166 with DECA chapters earning Gold Level Certification recognition.

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The SBE Certification program was developed to provide recognition for outstanding achievement by school-based enterprises and to motivate SBEs to strive for excellence. The program provides SBEs with standards for model school store operation and provides recognition for school-based enterprises at three levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. To be re-certified for Gold Level achievement, school store teams compile an application manual demonstrating professional operating standards in six sections including financial analysis, store operations, product/service management, promotion, selling, and social responsibility.

Richfield’s “Spartan Avenue” store has been in operation since November 2010, when the previous store model (operating at Richfield High School since the late 1950’s) was re-branded to emphasize school spirit and community pride. The store is managed and operated by students participating in the DECA program, a student marketing association preparing emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. The operation of the store serves as a “testbed” for concepts and innovations taught as part of the Marketing classroom curriculum.

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A team of 1-3 store managers will accompany chapter advisor Dean Breuer to the ICDC to learn additional strategies of high-performing business operations as well as to share information on the success of their own school store.


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