Students at Buchholz High School don’t have far to go if they want a little something to show off their school spirit.

The Spirit Spot is an on-campus store that offers a wide range of products for those who bleed black and gold—t-shirts, pom-poms, even beads. The store is run by students in Buchholz’ Academy of Entrepreneurship, who are responsible for handling the inventory, developing product lines, marketing their merchandise, taking care of the finances, dealing with staff—in short, doing the kinds of work that small business owners must do to survive in the real world.

Academy director Donna Martin says running The Spirit Spot brings to life the business curriculum the students learn in the classroom.

“If they just learn the theory in the classroom, they don’t remember it,” she said.  But when they have to apply it, it becomes real to them.”

One of the students who is putting what she’s learned in the classroom to work in the store is senior Lucy Sapp. She serves as Chief Operations Officer of The Spirit Spot, which means she’s in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly. As part of her duties, she recently wrote a 40-page report outlining the operation for expert judges with DECA, a nationwide organization that promotes education in the areas of marketing, management and entrepreneurship.

“It’s like going to the bank and presenting your business plan to get a loan,” said Sapp. “I’d like to run my own business someday, so this was a great opportunity to learn how to write this kind of report.”

Sapp obviously knew what she was doing. DECA has announced that The Spirit Spot has earned Gold Level Certification this year, the organization’s highest recognition for a school-based business. It was the only such business in Florida to earn the Gold Level Certification and will be recognized at DECA’s International Career Development Conference in Atlanta in late April.

Besides Sapp, several other Buchholz students will be at the conference competing for national honors. Seventeen students recently earned a chance to compete at the conference thanks to their strong performance at the Florida DECA competition in categories ranging from advertising campaigns to creative marketing projects. Through both oral and visual presentations, the students will have to prove that they know business.

“They’re going to be standing up in front of a judge and giving a professional presentation,” said Martin. “It’s amazing how much work the students put into this. Competition really brings out their best efforts.”