Lakes’ business club, DECA, has earned gold certification for the high school’s student store. According to DECA, the School-based Enterprise (SBE) Certification Program was developed to provide recognition for outstanding achievement by school-based enterprises and to motivate SBEs to strive for excellence and to grow. The program provides SBEs with standards for school store operations and provides recognition at three levels: bronze, silver and gold. Out of the 260 certifications submitted by high schools across the country this year, only 86 earned gold certification.
Business and marketing students are ready for customers in Lakes High School’s student store, which recently earned DECA gold certification.
Students who worked on the certification were senior Nick Smith and junior Matt Florence with assistance from their advisor, Todd Pehowski. The students researched the store’s cash flow from previous years and developed a manual for how to run the student store.
“It was a lot of work, but very rewarding,” said Smith. “This experience will help us in our careers.”
“Their work really set the standard and raised the bar for this program,” said Pehowski.
Lakes’ program will be recognized at DECA’s International Career Development Conference, which will be held in May in Atlanta.
DECA is a not-for-profit student organization that prepares students for careers in marketing, management, finance and hospitality. DECA operates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, China, Germany, Guam, Hong Kong, Korea, Mexico and Puerto Rico.