Gold status places UHS store among nation's best

For the second straight year, Utica High School's school store has brought home the gold.

The School-Based Enterprise (SBE) at Utica High School was among 166 school-based enterprises in the United States achieving Gold Level status this year and will be recognized at DECA’s International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California.

This is the second straight year the Chieftain Connection earned gold certification. The students who worked on the re-certification were Devin Werner, Mirna Ayar and Pjeter Lulgjuraj with the assistance of their advisor Dana Boice. The store has operated for more than 30 years.

School-based Enterprises are effective educational tools in helping to prepare students for the transition from school to work or college. For many students, they provide the first work experience; for others, they provide an opportunity to build management, supervision and leadership skills.

While some in the education community have only recently discovered the value of school-based enterprises, marketing educators and DECA advisors have used them as a powerful learning lab for more than four decades.

DECA’s 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.

School stores can be certified at three levels: Bronze, Silver or Gold. In order to apply for the certification, SBEs must submit extensive documentation showing how they have achieved set standards that are outlined in the certification guidelines.

After the documentation is submitted, a review committee evaluates the documentation to determine which level of certification has been achieved.

Complete information about DECA’s School-based Enterprise Certification Program can be found at www.deca.org/sbe.