This year’s DECA competition in Casper on February 4-6 saw five-year veteran coach Leigh Ann Ojeda and her duo of competitors from Triumph spend some time in the winner’s circle.  Students Colby Miller and Grace Owen submitted a team project titled “Community Giving Project” which earned them the fourth-place spot in that competition. Their community project was to raise money and collect donations to put together backpacks full of necessary supplies for the homeless residents of Cheyenne. Owen and Miller completed this project last spring and donated 25 filled backpacks to the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless in May of 2023.

Despite this being Owen’s first time in this competition, and despite her claiming, “I didn’t think I was gonna win; I just wanted to compete and see what I could do,” she won Top Performer for her written exam in Business Administration, Top Performer for her role play in Principles of Finance, and third overall in the state for Principles of Finance.

Coach Ojeda was pleased with the students’ performances and gritty competitiveness and wasn’t really surprised at the positive outcome of the competition. Triumph students, teachers, and programs are demonstrating the value and importance of the alternative high school and its effectiveness in producing well-educated, well-adjusted students who have blossomed and have great potential after high school.