Crystal Lake South, Harvard top finishers in Accounting Bowl
Top accounting students from seven area high schools tested their numerical ability and problem-solving skills at McHenry County College's 16th annual High School Accounting Bowl.
A total of 150 students were divided into two levels, Accounting 1, which included first-year accounting students, and Accounting 2, for those completing two years of high school accounting.
The students took a one-hour paper and pencil test that included true-false and multiple choice questions that challenged their knowledge of the balance sheet, current assets and liabilities and many other accounting principles.
Students also participated in the accounting Jeopardy game and a scavenger hunt to find classrooms and student support offices at the college.
Crystal Lake South High School captured first place in the Accounting 1 team category, followed by second-place finisher Harvard High School and third-place finisher Woodstock High School.
Alden-Hebron and Woodstock North high schools finished fourth and fifth place, respectively. Harvard High School won first place in the Accounting 2 team category, followed by Alden-Hebron, second place, and Marengo, third place.
Alden-Hebron won the T-shirt design contest. The back of their maroon shirts pictured a house plant and a price tag with the wording "Look at that plant asset."
Individual winners in Accounting 1 were: Hannah Wilson, Woodstock North, first place; Ryan Osterberg, Crystal Lake South, second place; Reid Stricker, Harvard, third place; Mariano Caballero, Crystal Lake South, fourth place; and Ruby Galarza, Harvard, fifth place.
Individual winners in Accounting 2 were: Catherine Austin, Harvard, first place; Cole Miller, Harvard, second place; Cristian Escobar, Harvard, third place; Mason Mindham, Alden-Hebron, fourth place; and Brett Lehman, Harvard, fifth place.
"The high school accounting teachers do a great job of preparing all of the test takers," said Don Curfman, MCC accounting instructor and accounting bowl organizer.
"The teachers also provided feedback to make this year's accounting bowl better with the introduction of an accounting trivia game using the Kahoot!, a mobile app."
Curfman noted that 10 percent of area high school accounting students who enroll at MCC after graduation take college level accounting classes. He said MCC accepts a full year of high school accounting classes as credit for MCC's Basic Accounting (ACC110) and students with two years of high school accounting may get credit for MCC's Financial Accounting (ACC151).
Students listened to 2017 MCC graduate Kamila Czeczot speak about her educational pathway toward accounting. She currently studies accounting at Northern Illinois University and was accepted for a summer internship at a Chicago area tax firm.
"There is no limit to what a college degree could get you," she said, adding accounting graduates could land jobs in a variety of industries, including banking, manufacturing, health care, government, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations.
Crystal Lake South accounting teacher Jim Krol said his students look forward to the Accounting Bowl all year long.
"It's a great event," he said. "It's a day to meet students from other schools who take accounting, and we all learn a little and have fun. It's great for students to hear success stories from people who started out at a community college."
Harvard senior Catherine Austin won first place two years in a row. She placed first in Accounting 1 last year and is this year's Accounting 2 champion. She plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater next fall to study agricultural business and accounting.
"I thought it was fun," Austin said. "The test has some challenging questions and some easy questions. I like accounting because it has rules you have to follow."
Accounting 1 first-place winner Hannah Wilson agreed.
"It think the event is well organized," she said. "The questions on the test were similar to what we learned in class, so we were pretty well prepared."