MIHS DECA Recognized for outstanding School-Based Enterprise

(Left to right) MIHS DECA students Abigail Butson, Duncan Poole, and Mattea Skuladottir standing in front of the MIHS Student Store.

Mercer Island, WA, February 23, 2026 – The Student Store (school-based enterprise) at Mercer Island High School was among 37 school-based enterprises achieving Gold for the 2025-2026 school year and will be recognized during DECA’s International Career Development Conference April 25-28, 2026, in Atlanta, Georgia.

A school-based enterprise (SBE) 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 21st Century skill development, and prepare students for college and careers.

The MIHS DECA members who contributed to the certification were Store Managers Abigail Butson, Duncan Poole, and Mattea Skuladottir with the assistance of their DECA chapter advisor, Shannon Tapp, and current Store Members. The SBE at Mercer Island High School has operated for over 15 years and is to be commended for this 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,” said Christopher Young, CAE, 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 motivates SBEs to strive for excellence and growth. SBEs can be certified at three levels: bronze, silver or gold. In order 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 program is sponsored by Otis Spunkmeyer Inc.

About DECA Inc.

DECA is a career and technical student organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs with a career interest 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 student members leverage their DECA experience to become academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible, experienced leaders. DECA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with over 315,000 members in more than 4,000 high school and college chapters in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Germany.

For more information about DECA, visit www.deca.org.