McHenry County College is partnering
with several area high schools to host the 12th annual Accounting Bowl at the
college’s Crystal Lake campus on Friday, April 25.
More than 150 high school students
will flex their mental muscle to vie for individual and team trophies as they
test their numerical competence and problem solving skills. Their task is to
complete a 100-question test in one-hour that includes true-false and multiple
choice.
“The purpose of the Accounting Bowl is
to open students’ eyes to what accounting is all about,” said Don Curfman, MCC
accounting instructor and Accounting Bowl coordinator. “It’s also to reward,
honor and encourage outstanding high school accounting students in McHenry
County.”
The contest also provides an
opportunity for students who are not the most athletic in school to participate
in something where they can win trophies, Curfman said.
Curfman compiled the test questions
based on topics ideas provided by the high school accounting teachers. All of
the test questions include topics that students have been exposed to in their
classes. The tests are graded by accounting instructor Ann Esarco, CPA and
other accounting instructors.
The Accounting Bowl is one example of
the many high school partnerships that MCC offers throughout the year to
promote and raise awareness of MCC’s academic programs. Other events include
the IDEA drafting competition, the Marketing Challenge and Automotive Open
House. MCC also offers works with local high schools offering several other
academic programs, including Articulated Credit, where 150 students earned
college credit from 2011-2013 and Dual Credit, where more than 1,300 students
earned college credit while in high school during the 2012-2013 academic year.
In addition to learning about the
accounting field, students will participate in a scavenger hunt where they
learn teaches students where different offices are at the college and a
Jeopardy game.
Guest speaker Ryan Farrell, CPA and
lawyer will talk about what education he had to complete to become a certified
public accountant. He also earned his juris doctor degree from Loyola
University and is a member of the law firm Zukowski, Rogers, Flood and McArdle
in Crystal Lake.
Curfman said a unique aspect of this
year’s event is having 20 MCC accounting students assisting. Of those students,
about 10 participated in the Accounting Bowl when they were in high school.
“What’s exciting about the event is
the competition. It’s has been amazing,” Curfman said, referring to only last
year’s event where the first and second place teams were separated by only one
point. Those teams were Crystal Lake South and Alden-Hebron, respectively.
The high schools that will participate
in this year’s event include: Alden-Hebron, Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake
South, Harvard, Huntley, Johnsburg, Marengo, Marian Central, McHenry West and
Woodstock North.
In addition to the opportunity to win
trophies, one student in Accounting 1 and one in Accounting 2 will receive an
MCC scholarship for $100 each.
