Snapchat geofilters, balance sheets and cherry blossoms: YEOC April accounting session

There was no better day to visit the University of Washington; it was warm, sunny, cloudless and the Quad’s famous cherry blossoms trees were in full bloom. But for 170 YEOC high school students, it was the perfect day for a scavenger hunt that tested their accounting knowledge.

“Accounting is the language and story of a business,” explained YEOC mentor, Joshua Banks, earlier that morning. The classroom full of high school mentees had just finished a short exercise in which students vigorously discussed why a fictitious Kanye West might choose to sell shoes over clothing according to his financial statements. During this month’s accounting focused session, students got familiar with the fundamentals including debits, credits, assists, liabilities, and even a few equations. Students diligently took notes, anticipating the accounting challenge lead by Bahari Watkins.

Snapchat Controller, Erica Cruz flew in from California to speak about the role of accounting in social media and spoke at length about her journey to the company. She arrived just in time for the debut of the YEOC geofilters on the snapchat app. The session was then immediately followed by the first annual YEOC Admitted Students Dinner. High school seniors in the program who had been recently admitted to the University of Washington shared dinner with one another and their families while learning more about what UW had to offer. This year, more than 70% of YEOC seniors were admitted to the University of Washington!

See photos from the session below.

Foster Senior & YEOC Mentor Joshua Banks leads a lecture on accounting

Snapchat Controller, Erica Cruz gives the keynote speech of the day

YEOC mentees pose wit Erica Cruz, on Snapchat using the new YEOC geofilters.

YEOC mentees pose together in Suzzallo Library while exploring campus

YEOC mentees pose in together in front of the HUB

Over 100 students, families, friends, faculty, staff, and alumni at the first annual YEOC Admitted Students Dinner

This blog post was written by Foster student and YEOC Mentor Danielle McConnell. Photography by Emmeline Vu & Abiel Zewolday.

The mission of the YEOC (Young Executives of Color) program is to cultivate the academic potential of underrepresented high school student leaders in Washington State through college preparation, powerful mentorship, and the development of real life business skills. Find out more about the YEOC program on the Foster website. Follow YEOC on Facebook and Instagram: @yeocuw.