February 15, 2016
SIU to host 18th annual Accounting Challenge
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Hundreds of high school and community college students from around the region will compete at the 18th annual Accounting Challenge at Southern Illinois University Carbondale on Friday, Feb. 19.
Participants can win college scholarships and other prizes in the event, sponsored by the School of Accountancy in SIU’s College of Business. About 325 students will be at the Student Recreation Center for the challenge, which incorporates individual and team tests of skills and knowledge.
Media Advisory
Reporters, photographers and news crews are welcome to cover the team competition element of the 2016 Accounting Challenge. It will take place from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Friday, Feb. 19, in the small gymnasium at the Student Recreation Center.
The Accounting Challenge begins at 9:30 a.m. It features an academic competition that tests the accounting knowledge and skills of participants.
The team challenge follows at 10:30 a.m. and this always involves a surprise creative test of the imagination. One year, participants used a few commonplace household supplies to create a protective shell to keep a hammer from crushing the fragile fruit inside. Another year, the mission was to create a missile that would fly the farthest when launched from a catapult. Their goal during another challenge was to create a container that would keep an egg placed inside safe and unbroken when dropped from a second-story balcony.
Students from 21 different high schools and three community colleges will vie for bragging rights and prizes in the 2016 competition. The individual students earning the highest scores in the three divisions of the academic challenge will win certificates and scholarships worth up to $500 if they attend SIU and major in accounting. The divisions are: accounting 1, advanced accounting and community college.
Winners of the team building contest will receive trophies for their schools as well as for individual team members. Participants can also win various prizes donated by local businesses. The event wraps up with the awards presentation at 1 p.m.
Coordinators of this year’s Accounting Challenge are Josh Lohmann, a senior accounting and finance major from Nashville, and Kyle Adams, a junior accounting major from Carterville.