The Bear Necessities, a school-based enterprise at Blacksburg High School, is among 360 school-based enterprises in the United States achieving Gold Level recertification this year and will be recognized at DECA’s International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California this April.
A school-based enterprise is an entrepreneurial operation in a school setting that provides goods and services to meet the needs of the market. The enterprises are managed and operated by students as hands-on learning laboratories that integrate National Curriculum Standards in Marketing, Finance, Hospitality and Management.
The managers who worked on the certification were Maria Avagyan, Weston Carmack and Brandon DeLorenzo. The Bear Necessities has operated for 10 years and has achieved the highest level of operational success each year. Located in the high school’s cafeteria area, the school store provides easy access for students, teachers and parents. The store also sets up a remote site at Bill Brown Stadium for home football and soccer games.
DECA’s school-based enterprise certification program was developed to provide recognition for outstanding achievement by school-based enterprises and to motivate excellence and growth.
The enterprises can be certified at three levels: bronze, silver or gold. In order to apply for the certification, the enterprises must submit extensive documentation demonstrating 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.
“I’m very proud of the work my students submitted this year for The Bear Necessities,” said DECA advisor Kim Radford. “Their content focused on finance, pricing and promotion. They spent many hours preparing income statements and balance sheets, pricing strategies and promotional plans outside of our class.”
“This year has, by far, been one of our most successful for learning outcomes,” she added.
— Submitted by Kim Radford
