The Husky Fan Shop, the school-based enterprise at Hamilton Heights High School, was among 246 school-based enterprises achieving the highest level of certification, Gold Chapter Certification, for the 2020-2021 school year and will be recognized during DECA’s Virtual International Career Development Conference taking place April 19-23, 2021. The chapter was one of five schools in Indiana to achieve this recognition this year.
A school-based enterprise (SBE) is an entrepreneurial operation in a school setting that provides goods and services to meet the needs of the market. SBEs are managed and operated by students as hands-on learning laboratories that integrate National Curriculum Standards in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. DECA advisors have utilized this effective educational tool for over four decades to provide their students with realistic and practical learning experiences that reinforce classroom instruction, enhance 21st century skill development, and prepare students for college and careers.
The Hamilton Heights DECA members who contributed to the certification were Husky Fan Shop Store Managers and Advanced Business Management students Miranda Hirl, Josh Russell, Katherine Smith and Olivia Yott, with the assistance of their DECA chapter advisor, Julie Oelschlager. The SBE at Hamilton Heights High School has operated for seven years and is to be commended for this achievement.
“DECA’s School-based Enterprise Certification Program is a rigorous process designed to help DECA members demonstrate their classroom learning in a practical, learning laboratory, and then translate that into meaningful outcomes,” said Christopher Young, CAE, Chief Program Officer at DECA Inc. “These DECA members are practicing important workplace readiness skills while preparing for college and careers.”
DECA’s School-based Enterprise Certification Program provides recognition for outstanding achievement by school-based enterprises and to motivate SBEs to strive for excellence and growth. SBEs can be certified at three levels: Bronze, silver or gold. In order to apply for the certification, SBEs must submit extensive documentation that explains how the SBE demonstrates the practice of various marketing and retail standards. A review committee evaluates the documentation to determine which level of certification has been achieved. DECA’s School-based Enterprise programs are sponsored by Intuit and Otis Spunkmeyer Inc.
Learn more at deca.org.