DECA Diner & Sacred Sips Café, the school-based enterprise at Whitinsville Christian School, was among 989 school-based enterprises worldwide achieving Gold level of certification for the 2025-2026 school year and will be recognized during DECA’s International Career Development Conference this 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 market needs. 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 used this effective educational tool for over 4 decades to provide their students with realistic, practical learning experiences that reinforce classroom instruction, enhance 21st- century skill development, and prepare students for college and careers.
The Whitinsville Christian School DECA members who contributed to the certification were Addison Boone and Ethan Hand, with the assistance of their DECA chapter advisor, Eliot Deters. This achievement is extremely hard to earn in your first year of business, but the SBE DECA Diner and Sacred Sips should 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. To apply for certification, SBEs must submit extensive documentation demonstrating how they meet 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.
DECA is a career and technical student organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs with a career interest in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management.