Accounting Competition a Definite Asset
This spring, Geneva College’s Department of Business, Accounting and Management hosted its inaugural accounting competition for teams of high school students to great success. The department organized the competition to bring awareness of Geneva’s top-notch accounting program to area high schools. And the competition enticed eight high schools from the Pittsburgh area to participate, bringing about 30 competing teams and a total of about 140 students to Geneva’s beautiful campus.
High school students enjoyed the opportunity to learn about accounting practices while exploring Geneva’s campus and having fun solving problems and working as teams. Participants also interacted with 60 of Geneva’s current business and accounting undergraduate students who volunteered to run the competition.
The event was designed to be both fun and educational, consisting of an accounting-based scavenger hunt that led students to various areas across campus. Students worked in teams to find clues through completing various tasks. Upon solving a challenge, such as a giant accounting-based crossword puzzle, the team would receive a piece of a balance sheet. Once teams collected the final piece, they had to calculate all of the numbers to finish.
Moon Area High School and Bell Vernon Area High School both received top honors and a pizza party for completing their sheets first. But all students at the competition benefited by learning from Geneva’s Christian professors, discussing the field of accounting, discovering internships and networking and enjoying the unique “Geneva experience.”
Head organizer accounting professor Amy Russin found the response from participants to be overwhelmingly positive: “The feedback that I and the department received from the high schools was amazing! They found it to be educational and a lot of fun.”
The idea for the event came from undergraduate students in Russin’s Intermediate Accounting class. For a class project, the accounting students brainstormed ways to introduce high school students to the rigorous and faith integrated accounting program at Geneva.
Due to the event’s popularity of the event, organizers are already planning a 2016 competition.
-Caleb McCracken ’16
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