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Alexandria City High School (ACHS) has been recognized by the not-for-profit international student organization DECA for its outstanding school-based enterprise (SBE), the Titan School Store. The store is one of 461 SBEs that achieved Gold Level Re-Certification for the 2021-22 school year and will be recognized during DECA’s International Career Development Conference in Atlanta, GA, this spring.
“We are especially excited about this Gold Level Award,” said ACHS Business & Information Technology Instructor Catherine Lewis. “The students work really hard every day, making sure that they execute the newly adopted Titan School Store’s mission, which is to foster school spirit within the ACHS community by providing affordable high-quality products in a friendly and helpful purchasing environment.”
Managed and operated by students, these SBEs are an entrepreneurial operation in a school setting that provides goods and services to meet the needs of the market and allows students to develop workplace readiness skills. In essence, these stores are a hands-on learning laboratory that integrates national curriculum standards in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.
The Titan School Store is located in the ACHS King Street campus cafeteria and is open during all lunch periods. Students in the Dual Enrollment Entrepreneurship I and Advanced Entrepreneurship II classes offered through Northern Virginia Community College manage the school store, select merchandise, oversee accounting and work retail shifts during lunch blocks. The team has upgraded the store’s retail technology to offer easier order options, delivery services between ACHS campuses and added payment options. The store sells apparel such as hoodies, t-shirts, pants and jackets as well as tote bags, blankets, water bottles and lanyards.
DECA Chief Program Officer Christopher Young commended the SBE at ACHS, in operation for 12 years, for its Gold Level 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.”