Carmi- White County High School is the high overall winner for the high school business skills competition at Southeastern Illinois College.
The event, held Feb. 25, included six categories for individual students to compete with their peers from other SIC district high schools. Those schools competing this year included Carmi-White County, Carrier Mills-Stonefort, Eldorado, Galatia, Gallatin County, Hardin County, Harrisburg and Pope County.
Several of the events in this competition involve an objective exam while others have a hands-on component. The top two scorers from each event are recognized at the awards ceremony. Each high school can enter up to two students per event and each school’s individual competition scores are totaled to find out the school with the most points.
“The Business Skills Competition is important for the students to have an opportunity to compete in events they enjoy and excel in, in their school,” said Kelsie Bond, SIC business instructor. “It is great for the students to visit SIC and interact with potential instructors, students and staff. This competition is a lot of fun for me and I enjoy getting to know the students from area high schools.”
In the accounting category, the 100-question test covers such topics as balance sheets, income statements, work sheets, adjusting and closing entries, account balances, notes receivable and petty cash. Students are not allowed to use calculators or cell phones during the test. Dylan Boggs of Gallatin County won first in accounting and Brody Watts of Gallatin County took second.
The general business category covers banking, budgeting, careers, economic systems, insurance, marketing and other business information. Chance Hamblin of Carmi-White County earned first place in general business, while Aiden Blade of Harrisburg took second.
Keyboarding consists of five 5-minute timed writings scored by net speed. Scott Sanders of Carmi-White County won first place in keyboarding. Second place went to David Matthews of Gallatin County.
Excel tests student knowledge on basic concepts in Excel, formatting workbook test and data, and calculating data with formulas and functions. Kaleb Burklow of Gallatin County took first in Excel and AJ Clemans of Pope County earned second.
In information technology, participants must reassemble a computer, determine basic networking properties, and complete a test. Taking first in information technology was Hadyn Browning of Carmi-White County. Dillon Sigler of Eldorado earned second in this category.
Finally, the web design category required students to modify a web page working with HTML code. Austin Galloway of Eldorado won first place in web design, and Austin Keown of Eldorado took second.
Individual Winners – 2016 SIC Business Skills Competition winners are (front row, l-r) in accounting, first place, Dylan Boggs and second place, Brody Watts both of Gallatin County, in general business, first place, Chance Hamblin of Carmi-White County and second place, Aiden Blades of Harrisburg. Middle row (l-r) in Keyboarding, first place, Scott Sanders of Carmi-White County, second place, David Mathews of Gallatin County; in Excel, first place, Kaleb Burklow of Gallatin County and second place, AJ Clemans. Back row (l-r) in information technology, first place, Hadyn Browning of Carmi-White County, second place, Dillon Sigler of Eldorado; in web design, first place, Austin Keown and second place, Austin Galloway both of Eldorado.
Legence Bank was the corporate sponsor of this event and hosted an informative lunch with Legence Bank President, Kevin Beckemeyer as the guest speaker. Students also heard from Maggie Calcaterra, SIC’s transfer academic advisor and listened to Homeward Bound by Marta Keen and No One is Alone from Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods performed by SIC’s Concert Choir.
The purpose of the event is not only to encourage and enhance the study of business knowledge and skills at an early age, but to familiarize area high school students with the available business and computer information technology programs at SIC.
“The Business Skills Competition and Spotlight Day is a great opportunity for high school students to visit SIC and learn more about our quality Business and Information Technology programs,” stated Dr. Karen Weiss, dean for career and technical education. “Students not only learn what SIC has to offer academically but also about what is offered through student life and activities. Our goal is for students to have a positive experience while they are here on-campus, enough so that they will return as SIC students in the fall.”
Southeastern has traditional and online business degree programs. To learn more, contact an SIC recruiter at 618-252-5400, ext. 2245 or 2325.
