A Henley High School senior has qualified to compete on the world stage at the DECA International Career Development Conference in April.

Lily Preston's Run

Lily Preston placed second overall in human resources management series at DECA's State Career Development Conference competition on February 12 and 13.

DECA students must place in the top three to automatically qualify for the world competition.

Preston also placed eighth in hotel and lodging management series — meaning she was competing at the very top of her field across multiple business specialties simultaneously.

What DECA Is

DECA is a national career and technical student organization preparing students for careers in:

  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Hospitality
  • Management

DECA chapters in high schools across the country run competitive case-study and role-play events where students:

  • Receive a business scenario they haven't seen before
  • Have a short prep window to develop a solution
  • Present their solution to a panel of business-professional judges
  • Are evaluated on knowledge, communication, professionalism, and business acumen

The format puts students in the position of real business decision-making — and rewards the kind of clear, structured thinking that translates directly to careers in business, sales, management, and consulting.

Why Top-20 at State Is a Win

Henley DECA advisor Sean Teaters said the competition is tough — and placing in the top 20 is considered a successful conference for students. Those scores are usually within a few points of the leaders.

"We had a good year, we had a really good year. Top 20 at state means you're competing at a really high level — those kids could just as easily have been top 10 with a slightly different role-play scenario." — Sean Teaters

That's the reality of DECA competition: the scoring is tight enough that the difference between 5th place and 18th place is often a handful of judging points and the luck of which case-study you drew.

12 Other Henley Students Top-20 at State

Beyond Lily Preston's second-place run, 12 other Henley DECA competitors scored in the top 20 at the state conference.

That breadth of performance reflects something more important than any single student's result: Henley DECA has built a program that's producing competitive students across multiple categories, not just one or two standouts.

That kind of program depth is what sustained excellence looks like.

What This Means for Lily

Qualifying for DECA Internationals isn't a small thing. The international conference brings together top DECA students from across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Guam, Germany, and other countries — competing in front of corporate judges from major employers.

For Lily, that means:

  • A résumé item that opens doors at business schools and employers
  • Exposure to corporate professionals across her chosen career fields
  • A peer network of high-achieving high-school students from around the world
  • Real-world feedback on her business presentation skills from people who do this for a living

Why This Matters for Klamath County

Programs like Henley DECA are part of how rural Oregon high schools punch above their weight.

Lily Preston is competing against students from massive suburban high schools with dedicated DECA classrooms, multi-period programming, and resources Henley simply doesn't have. And she's beating most of them.

That's a credit to Lily, to Sean Teaters, to the Henley administration that supports the program, and to the families investing in their kids' competitive participation.

Congratulations, Lily

To Lily Preston — congratulations on placing 2nd at State and earning your spot at Internationals. Go represent Henley well.

To every Henley DECA student who placed in the top 20: well-earned, and look out next year.

The basin is proud of all of you.