Gallatin County High School is the high overall winner for the high school business skills competition at Southeastern Illinois College.
The event, held Feb. 23, 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.
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 2017 Business Skills Competition was another success,” said Kelsie Bond-Rodman, SIC Business Instructor. “It is great for the students to visit SIC and interact with potential instructors, students and staff. I always enjoy meeting and talking to future SIC students, and we appreciate all of the high schools that attended this year.”
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. Kelsi May of Gallatin County won first in accounting and Alexa Naas 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 Chloe Bosaw of Gallatin County took second.
A new category, business presentation, was introduced this year. In this category, a two student team given a topic and they were to use presentation software to deliver a six-minute presentation, and were required to wear business casual attire. This year’s topic was identity theft, and the teams were judged by Cameron Newbold, Financial Advisor with Edward Jones; Meghan Densch, Treasury Management Coordinator with Banterra Bank; and Kim Barr, Vice President Human Resources with Legence Bank. Brody Oxford and Ali Hanson of Hardin County won first place in business presentation. Second place went to Kallie and Abbie Keasler of Gallatin County.
Excel tests student knowledge on basic concepts in Excel, formatting workbook test and data, and calculating data with formulas and functions. David Matthews of Gallatin County took first in Excel and Kelsi Watson of Galatia earned second.
In information technology, participants must reassemble a computer, determine basic networking properties, and complete a test. Taking first in information technology was Ethan Reed of Harrisburg. Michael Jaster of Harrisburg 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 Konner Gross of Gallatin County took second.
Caleigh Bruce, Chief Compliance Officer and Director of Human Resources at Ferrell Hospital in Eldorado, as well as a proud SIC alumna was this year’s guest speaker. Students also heard from Maggie Calcaterra, SIC’s transfer academic advisor.
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.
Southeastern has traditional and online business degree programs. To learn more, contact an SIC recruiter at 618-252-5400, ext. 2245 or 2325.
Individual Winners – 2017 SIC Business Skills Competition winners are (not listed in order) in Accounting, first place, Kelsi May of Alexa Naas took second, both of Gallatin County; in General Business, Chance Hamblin of Carmi-White County earned first place while Chloe Bosaw of Gallatin County took second; in Business Presentation, Brody Oxford and Ali Hanson of Hardin County won first place, second place went to Kallie and Abbie Keasler of Gallatin County; in Excel, first place, David Matthews of Gallatin County took first and Kelsi Watson of Galatia earned second; in Information Technology, taking first in was Ethan Reed of Harrisburg. Michael Jaster of Harrisburg earned second in Web Design, Austin Galloway of Eldorado won first place and Konner Gross of Gallatin County took second.
First Place 2017 – Gallatin County – Gallatin County High School won the high overall award for the top scoring team at the SIC Business Skills Competition. Pictured (not listed in order) are Kelsi May, Alexa Naas, Dylan Garrison, David Matthews, Kelsie Allen, Chloe Bosaw, Kallie Keasler, Abbie Keasler, Jessica Mulvaney, Konner Gross, Jacob Watson and Dylan Boggs.
Pope County HS – Pope County High School participants in the Business Skills Competition at SIC are (not listed in order) Noah Hall, Taylor Hall, Emma Robards, Allie Hughes and Kolby Robertson.
Hardin County HS – Hardin County High School participants in the Business Skills Competition at SIC are (not listed in order) Tanner Owen, Kassi Ketten, Alyssa Smith, Koda Reed, Sammie Oxford, Kati Lamar, Brody Oxford, Ali Hanson, Cole Trosen and Jamison Williams.
Carmi- White County HS – The Carmi- White County High School participants in the Business Skills Competition at SIC are (not listed in order) Peyton Roedder, Andrew Hunsinger, Tyler Spence, Lacey Cobb, Chance Hamblin, Trenton Kittinger, Matt Rice, Lane Camp, Peyton Frymire, Dillon Womack, Hadyn Browning and Logan Spruell.
Eldorado HS – Eldorado High School participants in the Business Skills Competition at SIC are (not listed in order) Braden Attebury, Lexa Carney, Mattie McGowan, Emilie Farmer, Rachel Durham, Kimberly Acheson, Alex Stevens, Austin Galloway, Ashlyn Sizemore, Brandon Burnett and Jacob Traxler.
Galatia HS – Galatia High School participants in the Business Skills Competition at SIC are (not listed in order) JeanLu Peak, Kacie Burnham, Allen Marvel, Kelsi Watson, Faith Curtis, Bethany Toler, Sara Simpson and Sean Mondino.
Harrisburg HS – Harrisburg High School participants in the Business Skills Competition at SIC are (not listed in order) Hunter Smith, Peyton Bustamante, Bailey Cain, Colton Tanner, Braydon Wallace, Lexi Sirtak, Angela Colby, Mikayla Riggs, Chaton Duke, Alex Drivenski, Ethan Reed and Michael Jaster.
