Egg drop -- During the 13th Annual School of Accountancy’s Accounting Challenge at SIUC on Feb. 4, Carbondale Community High School students (from left) Tiffany Rogers, Maggie Golz and Stevie Dailey create a container to enclose an egg in hopes of dropping the egg from a second-floor balcony to the gym floor below without it breaking. Their team also included Jordan Trude and Haley Doan. Participants also competed in other events including an academic written test. (Photo by Christi Mathis) Download Photo Here
February 07, 2011
Accounting Challenge draws 350 participants
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The test seemed simple enough for the 350 students attending the Accounting Challenge at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Begin by placing an egg in a plastic bag and then create a container to encapsulate it using a bit of paper, a paper bag and some masking tape. Oh, but there’s a catch. The container had to so insulate the egg that it wouldn’t break when dropped from the second-floor balcony at the Student Recreation Center to the gym floor below. Many tried. Few succeeded.
But for all contestants it was just part of the fun learning experience that comprised the13th Annual School of Accountancy Accounting Challenge on Friday, Feb. 4. The popular event drew students from 24 high schools and community colleges around the region. Participants also tested their accounting knowledge with written tests and created origami.
Students winning the individual accounting test competition got certificates of recognition and scholarships they can claim by attending SIUC and majoring in accounting. By calculating and averaging their scores in both the individual and team components, winners emerged in the team competition. Winning schools took home trophies for the school with each team member getting a trophy, too.
Contestants were able to tour the College of Business and meet faculty as well.
Individual winners of the Accounting Challenge, listed by division along with the school they attend and the scholarships they won, are:
• Community College Division: First place -- Alexis Long, John A. Logan College, $500 SIUC scholarship; second place -- Chuck Kuhns, John A. Logan College, $250 SIUC scholarship.
• Advanced High School Accounting Division: First place -- James Rinehart, Flora High School, $500 scholarship; second place -- tie between Rebecah Eyre of Centralia High School and Tad Thompson of Flora High School, $250 scholarship for each.
• High School Accounting 1 Division: First place -- Aimee Walter, Fairfield Community High School, $500 scholarship; second place -- Gagandeep Bedi, Marion High School, $250 scholarship; third place -- tie between Morgan O’Dell of Centralia High School, Schylar Nolen of Fairfield High School and Dylan Hoyer of Massac County High School, $200 scholarships for each.
Winners of the high school team competition, listed by division with names of team members, include:
• Advanced Accounting: First place -- Marion High School team of Cody Wilson, Aaron Adeoye and Ken Harris; second place -- Mount Carmel High School team of Austin Anderson, Tucker Guisewite, Joe White and Grant Williams.
• Accounting 1 Division: First place -- Fairfield High School team of Cameron Williams, Colton Slover and Meghan Halley; second place -- Massac County High School team of Kim Baker, Rebecca Bettinger, Samantha Griffin and Deanna Madlock.
The School of Accountancy in the SIUC College of Business, the Accounting Circle (the school’s alumni group) and Caterpillar sponsored the 2011 Accounting Challenge.