Newark High School Students Learn About Accounting

On May 31, NJCPA volunteers and staff joined the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) and Everfi, a web-based learning management company, at Barringer High School in Newark to speak with more than 70 high school seniors and teachers as part of “Accounting for Your Future,” a national brand awareness campaign focused on reaching Black, Hispanic and Latino students at the high school and early college levels. The event was part of the CAQ’s Accounting+ initiative. 

Kicked off by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and hosted by former New York Giant Dhani Jones, the program raised awareness about opportunities in accounting with fun and engaging activities, such as Accounting Mad Libs and Accounting Truths and Myths. The following NJCPA members shared their personal stories with students and led group discussions:

• Jose Borbon, CPA, CRC, vice president and audit manager at Northfield Bank
• Yan Zhang, CPA, chief accountant at Eisner Amper LLP
• Joseph Polanco, senior automotive accountant at Withum
• Matthew Stenger, CPA, audit manager at Mazars 

One lucky Barringer student received a $5,000 scholarship from the CAQ. 

Raising awareness of the profession among high school students and conducting year-round outreach to high schools and educators was one of the recommendations of the NJCPA’s Pipeline Task Force, formed last year to study the accounting profession’s pipeline challenges and develop a set of actionable and measurable proposals.