DECA Students to Compete in National Competition

—Submitted by Christina Belfatto, Cinnaminson High School business teacher and DECA advisor

Cinnaminson DECA, an association of marketing students, has just received some exciting news. Three students worked very hard for the past four months to complete a written manual on Cinnaminson High School’s award-winning student store.

This manual, which was over 30 pages long, was written in hope to compete at the International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, Calif. this April.

We have just received the news from National DECA that Cinnaminson DECA student’s Christopher Weist, Alex Forte and Amanda Congemi have qualified and will be competing against schools from all over the country in the School Based Enterprise event. Congratulations Cinnaminson DECA!

A release from National DECA:

The School-Based Enterprise (SBE) at Cinnaminson High School of Cinnaminson, NJ was among 166 school-based enterprises in the United States achieving Gold Level Certification (or Gold Level Re-certification) this year and will be recognized at DECA’s International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California. The students who worked on the certification were Amanda Congemi, Alex Forte, and Christopher Weist, with the assistance of their advisor Christina Belfatto. The school-based enterprise at Cinnaminson High School has operated for over 35 years and is to be commended for this achievement.

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 growth.

School stores can be certified at three levels: Bronze, Silver or Gold. In order to apply for the certification, SBEs must submit extensive documentation that demonstrates their adherence to various marketing and retail standards. After the documentation is submitted, a review committee evaluates the documentation to determine which level of certification has been achieved.D