We’ve said it before in this space, and we’ll say it again: Franklin High School has a group of students that can compete, literally, on the world’s stage.

The school’s DECA entry has been a jewel for years. It proved its worth again at the International Career Development Conference held recently in Atlanta.

DECA/Delta Epsilon Chi is an international association of high school and college students studying marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality and marketing sales and service.

The Franklin Chapter also has routinely contributed volunteers to community events.

But the school’s team of marketing students competed against 180 other teams in the creative marketing category, and missed taking third place by the slim margin of four points.

That would have kept them from winning a bronze medal at, say, the Olympic Games — if there was such a thing for DECA competition — but finishing fourth in a field of that size is an incredible accomplishment in and of itself. During the awards ceremony, the team members stood in front of roughly 18,000 spectators — which is about what major indoor spectator sports attracts — to accept their award.

In the Olympics, finishing in fourth place means you get to take a shower before anyone of the top three finishers arrive in the locker room.

But a team from a small-town school finishing fourth among 180 other schools from around the world is an accomplishment not easily dismissed. It shouldn’t be.