Hamilton High School students who run the school store, Charger Corner, learned that they earned a top national certification and will be recognized at the international Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) conference this spring. The store earned the School-Based Enterprise Gold Certification for its business practices.
Charger Corner is operated by Hamilton’s DECA Chapter and is managed and staffed by students in Skip Hay’s marketing class. Store managers Brian Bialobrzeski, Ashley Reimer, and Mark Ray worked under the guidance of Hay to prepare an 80-page portfolio that documented the store’s best practices.
With a $20,000 grant from the Carl Perkins Fund and $8,000 of profits generated from the school store, Hay and his students are planning a remodeling project that will begin this spring and be completed at the start of the 2007-08 school year. High school and district resources will also contribute to the project.
DECA — an association of students interested in marketing, management and entrepreneurship — developed the School-Based Enterprise Certification Program to recognize outstanding achievement and motivate excellence and growth. The program provides enterprises with standards for model school store operation.
The gold certification is the highest among three levels available to school stores. The recognition level is based on the number and type of activities completed in each of 12 categories. Hamilton’s three student managers and Hay will be called on stage at the DECA International Career Development Conference in Orlando this May to receive their award.