Lewiston High School students participated in the state career development conference on February 9-11, 2026 at the Nampa Civic Center. Out of 56 students that attended, 36 qualified to compete at the national level. These students placed top 3 in at least one of their events to qualify.
In the first week of December, Lewiston DECA took 60 students to Coeur d’Alene to compete against Northern Idaho schools. At that event, Potter said, about 20 students won awards for regional business role-play competitions.
In November, the Lewiston DECA branch took its managers and officers to Washington, D.C., where they participated in a five-day national conference called “DECA Power Trip.” Students competed in business role-play events and also visited historical sites like Mt. Vernon, the Smithsonian museums, the Holocaust Museum, and even a ghost tour of Old Alexandria.
This spring, DECA students who placed at state competitions will be able to attend the national event in Atlanta, Georgia. Those students will compete and also visit various locations, including Six Flags, museums, and aquariums.
In past years, DECA also attended games for the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks. They got a tour of the stadium, as well as a tour of the “city within a city” complex that surrounds it, Potter said.
John Potter, the economics teacher at Lewiston High School, serves as the DECA program’s advisor.
“The general idea of DECA is to develop workplace skills and competencies related to business and marketing,” Said Potter.
