SHS BPA team wins national title at BPA competition

Two Sandpoint High School students earned a national championship after taking first place in the Small Business Management Team event at the 2026 Business Professionals of America National Leadership Conference held May 6-10 in Nashville, Tenn.

Junior Harrison Giles and Senior Nathan Egbert claimed the national title against 42 qualifying teams from across the country, becoming the fourth national champions in Sandpoint High School BPA history and the first to win in the Small Business Management Team category.

“I’m extremely proud of Harrison and Nathan for their dedication, teamwork and professionalism," Alex Gray, CTE director, said. "Earning a national title is an incredible accomplishment and a reflection of the opportunities available through BPA and Career Technical Education at Sandpoint High School.”

Business Professionals of America is a Career and Technical Student Organization that allows students to apply classroom learning in real-world competitive events focused on business, finance, technology, marketing, communication and management.

This year’s Small Business Management Team event challenged students to create a strategic growth plan for Luna & Co., a small creative design business seeking ways to sustainably expand while improving efficiency and maintaining work-life balance for its owner.

Egbert and Giles developed a detailed business proposal that included marketing strategies, revenue growth opportunities, passive income ideas, tax strategies and operational improvements. The team also interviewed a local artist from Bonners Ferry as part of their research process.

“We went into finals feeling pretty confident, but there were a lot of strong teams,” Giles said. “When they announced we were first place, we were honestly surprised.”

Competitors presented their solutions to judges in multiple rounds, including challenge rounds where teams were given additional information and only 30 minutes to revise portions of their presentations before presenting again.

“The questions in the final round were really detailed,” Egbert said. “They wanted actual logistics and specifics, so we had to think quickly and work together during the questioning.”

Egbert said one portion of the finals round directly connected to lessons he recently learned in class.

“They asked us about distribution strategies after the business received a contract from a major department store,” Egbert said. “A few weeks earlier in Mrs. Bankson’s Business and Marketing class, we had just learned about different warehouse systems, and we were able to incorporate that into our answer.”

BPA advisor Melinda Nieman said the moment perfectly captured the value of BPA as an intra-curricular organization, where students apply classroom learning in authentic competitive settings. Nieman and fellow business teacher Leanne Bankson serve as BPA advisors at Sandpoint High School.

Six Sandpoint High School students qualified for nationals this year after advancing through both regional and state competition. Other national competitors included Rachel Aylward, William Bean, Cecilia Dignan-Omodt and freshman Jackson Lankamer.

Bean improved on his national results from last year and placed 12th in one of his events, while Dignan and Egbert each earned 12th-place finishes in individual competitions. This year, 19 SHS students competed at the regional level, with 18 advancing to the state competition.

“The true value of Business Professionals of America is the personal growth, the small wins and the confidence these students take home,” Nieman said. “That is what makes this organization so special, and those are the achievements that will last them for a lifetime.”