Lemont Senior Wins Second State Medal At IDEA State Competition

LEMONT, IL — At the 2026 Illinois Design Educators Association (IDEA) State Competition, which was contested at Illinois State University on April 11, Lemont High School senior Hubert Bydlon earned his second state medal after finishing third in the Architectural Board category, the high school shared in a news release.

Senior Jakub Maka also made his state finals debut in the same competition.

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Bydlon joins Matt Lassak ‘16 and Mirella Miazga ‘26 as the only Lemont students to earn multiple state medals; he previously placed third in Introductory Board in 2025.

Bydlon and Maka earned their berths thanks to their performances in regional competition, taking the top two places, respectively, in Architectural Board, the high school said. Bydlon extended Lemont’s regional win streak in that category to 13 years (dating to 2014), and joined Miazga and Jacob Wilk ‘18 as the only Lemont students to win multiple regional titles; he previously won in the Introductory Board category in 2025. Students who finish among the top two in individual regional competitions earn state finals berths, as do first-place finishers in team events.

Under the tutelage of teacher Scott Duensing, Lemont has had at least one IDEA state qualifier in 18 of 19 years, according to LHS. It has earned multiple medals in state competition six times, with a high of three state medals in 2015, 2021, 2024 and 2025. It qualified a school-record five entries to state finals competition in 2020 (cancelled due to COVID-19) and 2024.