Klamath Falls, Ore – Thirty members of the Klamath Union High School (KU) chapter of Oregon DECA joined 1,200 high school business, finance, hospitality and marketing students at the annual association career development conference held February 22-24, 2026, at Holiday Inn Columbia Riverfront in Portland, Oregon.
The following students received recognition of individual or team ability and achievement at the state level:
• Elsie Baumann, Hope Hartley, & Nakia Williams - 1st place in Community Awareness Project
• Aeris Saindon & KayLeah Buhrle - 1st place in Hospitality Services Team Decision
• Jacob Martin - 1st place in Retail Merchandising
• Elsie Baumann & Veronica Lav - 2nd place in Business Law and Ethics Team Decision
• Eleanor Rodriguez - 2nd place in Quick Serve Restaurant Management
• Aeris Saindon - 2nd place in Restaurant and Food Service Management
• Eleanor Rodriguez & Lucas Perez - 2nd place in Travel & Tourism Team Decision
• Tristan Tatekawa & Jorge Triana - Recertified Gold Level in Student Based Enterprise (SBE)
These 11 students will advance to international level competition at the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) that will be held April 25-28, 2026, in Atlanta, GA.
Nine other KU competitors received top 20 Overall Placement in their events:
• Lucas Perez - Apparel & Accessories Marketing
• Audriana Morehouse & Evelyn Stanfield - Buying and Merchandising Team Decision
• Tristan Tatekawa & Jorge Triana - Entrepreneurship Team Decision
• Hope Hartley & Nakia Williams - Hospitality Services Team Decision
• Lenin Heaton & Ethan McCalister - Hospitality Services Team Decision
• Ethan McCalister - Hotel and Lodging Management
• Thomas Biggs - Hotel and Lodging Management
• Zoe Bitzer - Quick Service Restaurant Management
• Aleah South - Retail Merchandising
• Evelyn Stanfield - Sports and Entertainment Marketing
• Riley Rodgers - Sports and Entertainment Marketing
• Zoe Bitzer & Jacob Martin - Travel & Tourism Team Decision
“This year’s state competition highlighted the incredible depth of talent within KU’s business program. I am beyond proud of our students—not just for their competitive excellence, but for the integrity, preparation, and professionalism they showed at every level. They represented KU with confidence, character, and a persistent drive to succeed,” said Joel McPherson, chapter advisor.
For the 15th time since 2000, KU DECA earned the honor of the Oregon DECA Chapter of the Year. To earn Chapter of the Year, each chapter must submit a written evaluation of projects in four areas: community service, leadership development, chapter/membership development, and chapter publicity/promotion. This year some of the KU DECA highlights included raising funds and pet food donations for the Klamath Animal Shelter, attending multiple leadership development events, hosting a competition prep clinic, volunteering at a local food pantry, and promoting DECA in the local community.
Chapter Awards:
• 2026 Oregon Chapter of the Year (7th consecutive award)
• Thrive Level Membership Campaign
• Largest Professional Membership
• Largest Alumni Membership
• Third Largest Chapter Membership
As an integral part of the classroom curriculum, DECA’s industry-validated competitive events are aligned with the National Curriculum Standards in the career clusters of marketing, business management and administration, finance, and hospitality and tourism. DECA’s competitive events directly contribute to every student being college and career-ready when they graduate from high school. Judges and local business professionals evaluated the members’ performance in the format of role-plays, case studies and prepared presentations.
For more information contact Klamath Union DECA Advisor Joel McPherson, at 541-883-4763, or mcphersonj@kfalls.k12.or.us.