Student-led DECA store at CRHS earns gold certification at international conference
(05/17/19) Freshly baked cookies and a strategically placed fan helped grab the attention of students enjoying lunch at Coon Rapids High School - Center for Biomedical Sciences and Engineering (CRHS) on May 16, as they slowly started making their way into the Cardinal Image.
The Cardinal Image is a DECA student-led store in the center of CRHS that features Cardinal apparel, school supplies, beverages and snacks. The store is open in the morning before first hour, and during the entire lunch period. View photos of the Cardinal Image.
This year’s store leaders are seniors Ryan Kemp, Ellen Leciejewski and Sydney Soczek. They take turns serving as store manager, while students who are taking a marketing and management internship also help run the store.
Students are split up into different areas of running the store, including graphic design, fashion and food, and are responsible for making sure the store is stocked with new and exciting items for potential customers. Other tasks involve inventory and ordering of goods, and once it is open, the complete operation of the store. And bake cookies to create the kind of smells that attract students into the store.
“The internship class is like no other class I’ve ever taken before,” Leciejewski said. “It is a really hands-on class with team and group activities working towards and for the store. The class really forces you to take charge of your own work and prepare for the future.”
While working in the Cardinal Image, students learn time management and responsibility and skills needed for those interested in the business world.
For all of their hard work, Kemp, Leciejewski and Soczek recently helped CRHS DECA earn recognition at the International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Fla. The Cardinal Image earned Gold Certification for the first time from the DECA School-Based Enterprises Chapter, which is the highest standard for a school-based enterprise. It is given for providing students with work experience leading to management, supervision and leadership skills.
“Getting gold certification validates what we do with our school-based enterprise,” said Blake Bodenburg, business and marketing teacher and DECA advisor at CRHS. “It is our learning lab for running a business, much like a chemistry lab is for science. The students that earned the certification are showing real-world entrepreneurship, business and marketing skills they have learned.”
To enter their name in the hat for the award, Kemp, Leciejewski and Soczek prepared a 50-page project describing the operations of their food service operation.
“It was a very proud moment for us,” Kemp said. “It’s a pretty big achievement and we have been operating for a couple of years now and we finally put together this project so it was great to get our school recognized.”
Bodenburg agreed that the accomplishment was a big moment for CRHS DECA. “They have made this program exponentially better through the completion of this project and certification, as well as many other business and leadership projects, said Bodenburg”
Leciejewski was proud of her team’s achievement in the school-based enterprise competition, but she is even more proud of the entire DECA chapter at CRHS.
“We had great success in getting the certification for our school, but it really did take our entire chapter to get the store certified,” Leciejewski said. “Even though we are the three managers, the internship class is huge help with ordering and keeping an eye on inventory and they also put in a lot of hours into the store.”
Kemp has been involved with DECA for three years and was looking forward to his senior year when he had his opportunity to manage the school store. He was busy at the the International Career Development Conference as he also qualified in sports marketing and was an international finalist before being named a Minnesota Outstanding DECA member.
Leciejewski was also named a Minnesota Outstanding DECA member for CRHS. She has been involved with DECA since her freshman year and knew she wanted to be involved in the Cardinal Image after seeing upperclassmen run the store.
“Being able to experience being a manager, and knowing everything that it takes to be a manager, has really helped me become more organized and manage my time better,” Leciejewski said. “I have had a really good experience and it has been a place I can learn and grow as a person, and that has been amazing.”
The CRHS DECA program has had a successful year under the direction of Bodenburg, who earlier this year was the recipient of the Honorary Life Membership Award. CRHS had 14 members qualify for the International Career Development Conference this year.
Bodenburg and his CRHS DECA students were recognized at the May 6 School Board meeting.