Dozens of Lincoln Public Schools students filled in new lines on their educational spreadsheets this fall during a visit to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

More than 40 students from The Career Academy, Southeast High School and the Nebraska Business Focus Program at Standing Bear High School participated in UNL Accounting Day activities. They networked with UNL faculty and students, toured the UNL College of Business and learned how to examine financial statements of large companies.

Standing Bear seniors Kaitlin and Kate said they were enjoying the morning. The Nebraska Business focus program students are both interested in pursuing business careers. They enrolled in an Accounting Differentiated class to gain more experience with balance sheets, income statements and generally accepted accounting principles.

“I want to go into marketing as my major, and I just wanted to try accounting to get more well-rounded with the numbers part of business,” Kaitlin said. “I’ve never really fully understood that, so I felt like this class would really help me with it.”

“I want to go into business, but I’m not sure what area of business yet,” Kate said. “This is a nice step into something in this field to see if I like it or not, and so far, it’s been pretty fun. I really like it.”

Kendra Ritchie, director of recruitment for the UNL College of Business, said UNL Accounting Day is a beneficial experience for high schoolers like Kaitlin and Kate. Not only do they learn more about the core subject material, but they also hear firsthand reports from college students and professionals about why accounting is essential in the business world.

“The purpose is to bring the curriculum to life,” Ritchie said. “It shows the LPS students in high school accounting what careers and internships look like, the importance of networking, and ultimately, why we need accountants.”

Standing Bear Business Department Chairperson Andrew Christensen said he was pleased with the day’s educational outcomes. He helps Accounting Differentiated students understand various concepts and practices in their focus program classroom. He said their trip to UNL Accounting Day was a critical part of their learning ledgers.

“The experiences they’re getting here today are going to be really important for them,” Christensen said. “Kendra does an awesome job showing them the skills that they’ll need to have in different business fields after they graduate from high school. All of it is really applicable to what they’ll be doing.”

The visit helped LPS students become more familiar with accounting, which is considered the primary language of business. It is defined as the procedures people use to systematically record, summarize and report a company’s financial operations. It forms the backbone of careers ranging from entrepreneurship to entertainment.

Kaitlin, Kate and their classmates spent the first part of UNL Accounting Day learning how to network with people. Chris Timm, director of the UNL College of Business Career Center, joined other UNL faculty for chats with the high schoolers. They discovered techniques for introducing themselves, answering formal questions and, perhaps most importantly, listening to people in thoughtful and memory-making ways.

“Not only do we have to have fruitful conversations, but we have to remember things about the people we met,” Ritchie told the group. “These people may be influential in your future, so you want to be friendly and remember the conversation.”

Kate and Kaitlin both said the experience was helpful.

“We got to meet people who were part of the career center and who help with internships here,” Kate said. “It was really good to know that you have people you can reach out to if you ever need help with anything.”

“The networking was a really nice way for us to get our foot in the door a little bit if we come here next year for college,” Kaitlin said. “It just sets us up really well.”

Students received more supportive advice during a session on scholarship essays. Ritchie gave them a series of tips for submitting successful financial applications. Jill Trucke, an associate professor of practice in accountancy at UNL, said those lessons were also relevant for collegiate internship opportunities.

“Having experience with internships is really important for students,” Trucke said. “They might think that they can wait until their senior year of college to get their first internship, but that’s not how the accounting field works. Knowing that now gives them a head start on the type of planning they can do.”

Trucke continued the experiential learning morning by showing everyone how to analyze financial statements. She spent 14 years auditing private and public companies for a national accounting firm before joining UNL in January 2015. She currently teaches four undergraduate courses in the School of Accountancy.

Trucke helped students compare the revenues and expenditures of two national businesses. They calculated each company’s total liabilities, evaluated their financing activities and discovered the amount of cost markups.

Kaitlin said she was glad that she added the UNL Accounting Day to her inventory of LPS experiences. She said it would benefit her as she explores her future business prospects.

“It looked like a fun opportunity, and I wanted to do it to see what it was all about,” Kaitlin said. “I’m glad I did.”

Discover more about the various Business, Marketing and Information Technology (BMIT) courses that are benefiting LPS students.

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