GCHS Wins Business Skills Competition at SIC Again in 2015

Gallatin County High School is the high overall winner for the high school business skills competition at Southeastern Illinois College for the third consecutive year.

The event, held Feb. 26, 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, Eldorado, Galatia, Gallatin County, Hardin County, Harrisburg and Pope County.

“These are top-notch students,” said Chuck DePriest, Business Instructor at Gallatin County High School. “It is a joy to have them in class, seeing they are as congenial as they are academic. We did not attend four years ago, but since then we have placed as top team all three years, as well as obtaining the top accounting award—a definite plus for a small school which has had several students going on to obtain college accounting degrees the last few years.”

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 a great opportunity for the high school students to be able to visit SIC because they get to interact with some of the business/IT faulty, as well as getting to know other high school students from the area,” said Kelsie Bond, SIC Business Instructor. “The most important part about the competition to me was the interaction between the students and the SIC faculty. I had the opportunity to get to know some of the students, and it was nice to get to talk to them and see what their goals and plans are after high school.”

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. Hunter Baker of Gallatin County won first in accounting and Shay Wood of Gallatin County took second.

The general business category covers banking, budgeting, careers, economic systems, insurance, marketing and other business information. Candace Lindsay of Gallatin County earned first place in general business, while Alli Armstrong of Hardin County 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 Katie Poore of Gallatin County.

Computer concepts tests student knowledge on basic computing principles, terminology, programming concepts and procedures, computer application concepts and computer equipment. Brody Watts of Gallatin County took first in computer concepts and Katarina Kockova of Carmi-White 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 Hunter Davis of Eldorado. Hadyn Browning of Carmi-White County earned second in this category.

Finally, the web design category required students to modify a web page working with HTML code. Dustin Oldham of Gallatin County won first place in web design for the second year, and Austin Keown of Eldorado took second.

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 College offers three spotlight days throughout the year for high school students, including the Business Skills Competition and Spotlight Day,” stated Dr. Karen Weiss, Dean for Career & Technical Education. “What makes this event unique is that students actually get to compete against their peers in areas such as information technology, typing, accounting, and general business concepts. Students not only are exposed to a variety of business-related programs but are engaged in the learning experience, which hopefully makes for a more memorable and positive experience for them at SIC.”

Southeastern has traditional and online business degree programs. To learn more, contact an SIC recruiter at 618-252-5400, ext. 2245 or 2325.

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