Chatham seniors Emily Gaylord and Jenny Albrecht attend Questar III's New Visions: Business, Finance, & Marketing, where they meet regularly at Columbia-Greene Community College. In addition to taking six college courses during the school year, the class also includes a variety of educational and career-specific opportunities.
Last week the New Visions classes collectively went to New York City to visit the Federal Reserve Bank. There, they learned about the Fed's role in helping manage inflation and unemployment, regulating banks, and economics. They took a tour of the facility, participated in a workshop, and even saw the vaults of gold bars! Additionally, while in NYC, the class could "See Forever" 100 stories up at The One World Observatory. They also got to experience the economics of commerce while at the Oculus - a transportation hub with dozens of retailers and dining establishments.
On Thursday, October 24, Emily and Jenny were able to have conversations with representatives from over a dozen colleges in C-GCC's "Transfer Fair."
On Friday, October 25, Emily and Jenny participated in Accounting Day at Siena College with the class. They had a tour of the campus, heard from a panel of Siena accounting students, and participated in an interactive team accounting activity. A highlight of the day was when partners from four local CPA firms gave advice and information about being a CPA and working at a public accounting firm. Firms included KPMG, UHY Advisors, The Bonadio Group, and MMB + Co. Finally, students learned about fraud examinations and forensic accounting from Siena professor Dr. Rice and legalities and difficulties of forms of business ownership from Siena professor and attorney Colin Dwyer. Students were provided lunch and ice cream from the college as well!
New Visions: Business, Finance, & Marketing is an honors program for high school seniors from Columbia, Greene, and Rensselaer counties. It is instructed by Michael Loomis, a CPA and former Chatham business teacher who brings over 25 years of financial, management, and teaching experience to the program. Class members network with business executives, entrepreneurs, CPAs, financial planners, sales professionals,and insurance brokers during the school year. They also visit local businesses and see how they run, especially how each department works together to accomplish company goals and objectives. For more information about the program, contact Mr. Loomis at michael.loomis@questar.org or see http://mrloomis.com.
