Graham Kapowsin DECA recognized for school-based enterprise

Eagles Blue Line Café, the school-based enterprise at Graham Kapowsin High School, was among 461 school-based enterprises achieving Gold Level Certification for the 2022-23 school year and will be recognized during DECA’s International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Fla.

A school-based enterprise 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 21^st-century skill development, and prepare students for college and careers.

The Graham Kapowsin DECA members who contributed to the certification were Elisa Reaves and Steven Losee, with the assistance of their DECA chapter advisor, Tanya Torres-Steen. The SBE at Graham Kapowsin has operated for 18 years.

“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, 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. 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.

DECA is a career and technical student organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs who are interested in careers 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 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with more than 225,000 members in 4,000 high school and college chapters in all 50 United States, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and Germany.

For more information about DECA, visit deca.org.