Washington Township High School DECA Recognized for Outstanding School-Based Enterprise
For Immediate Release
February 13, 2025
Washington Township High School students who collaborated to write the certification paper for DECA pose in the WTHS School Store.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – Washington Township High School’s School Store, the school-based enterprise at WTHS, was among 851 school-based enterprises achieving Gold Certification for the 2024-25 school year and will be recognized during DECA’s International Career Development Conference on April 26-29, 2025, in Orlando, Fla.
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 more than 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.
WTHS DECA members who contributed to the certification were Business Administration and Management students, with the assistance of School Store advisor Shanonn Molloy and DECA Advisor Alexandria Ackley. The SBE at Washington Township High School has operated for 14 years under Miss Molloy’s advisement 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.”
“Our students analyzed various performance indicators including Operations, Finance, Marketing, Product Service Management, Market Research, and Human Resources to transform our School Store,” Miss Molloy said. “Students applied knowledge they have learned from their previous Business courses as demonstrated in the operation of the store, thereby creating a positive customer experience. We’re very proud of what they’ve accomplished.”
DECA’s School-based Enterprise Certification Program provides recognition for outstanding achievement by school-based enterprises and motivates 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 program is sponsored by Otis Spunkmeyer Inc.
About DECA Inc.
DECA is a career and technical student organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs with a career interest in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. DECA enhances the preparation for college and careers by providing co-curricular programs that integrate into classroom instruction, apply learning, connect to business and promote competition. DECA student members leverage their DECA experience to become academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible, experienced leaders. DECA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with over 287,000 members in more than 4,000 high school and college chapters in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Germany.
For more information about DECA, visit www.deca.org.
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