Paw Place earns gold certification Paw Place earns gold certification

Paw Place, the school store in East Aurora High School, has earned Gold Certification from the DECA business organization. The recertification marks the eighth consecutive year the store has earned this honor.

Paw Place was the only school store in Illinois to be Gold Certified in 2018.

The East High students who worked on the store’s certification were junior Sania Henry and sophomore Naomi Gutierrez. East Aurora High School teacher and DECA advisor Mark Lyons assisted the students.

Paw Place is the store inside East Aurora High School, which has been run by students since the storefront opened 10 years ago. Students choose merchandise, set prices, stock items, develop marketing plans, and sell items. Earning the Gold Certification takes significant work. Students were required to file a 25-page report covering operations, marketing information management, and distribution/channel management. 

“Many of our students talked about wanting to work on the project this year, but these two young ladies stepped up and made it happen,” Lyons said. “Now they have put themselves at the top in the State with the chance to shine at the international level.”

Henry and Gutierrez now have a chance to travel to the DECA International Career Development Conference in Atlanta, in April. Thousands of high school students, advisors, businesspersons, and alumni will gather to recognize achievement and develop knowledge and skills for college and careers.

DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. East Aurora High School has the oldest DECA chapter in Illinois.

DECA Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit student organization with more than 220,000 members in all 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Canada, China, Germany, Guam, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain. DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. DECA’s activities assist in the development of academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible, experienced leaders.

Complete information about DECA’s School-based Enterprise Certification Program can be found at www.deca.org/sbe.