The world functions as an economy.  It is of invariable importance that students learn how to function in the economy.  Mrs. Thompson takes great strides toward educating our peers in the banking and accounting fields.  Accounting class is a prerequisite for working in the bank, however.  

After students take a prerequisite of Business Concepts, Computer Literacy, or Computer Concepts, they are completely free to enroll in the HHS Accounting Course.  Accounting is a class focused on studying the theory of accounting, which can serve students in the fields of business, marketing, management, production, and ownership.  They oftentimes will use simulations to show students the true experiences of real-life business and money operations.  Accounting is a class that will help students become fit to handle financial records and transactions (whether purchasing or selling goods, paying employees, or dealing with the government).  After students take an accounting course, they can move onto working hands-on in the First Tiger Trust to learn about the field of banking.

There are well over seven thousand banks in the United States alone.  The HHS First Tiger Trust is one of the only student-run banks in our nation.  Therefore, Mrs. Thompson takes considerable pride in running the bank and making sure it is the best it can be.  She teaches the necessary skills in class to her students.  In action, they will manage deposits, take withdrawals, and will calculate interest.  In class, at the time of writing, Mrs. Thompson’s students are playing a mock stock market game, investing (and losing) fake money.  Remy James (11), enjoys the intimacy of the banking class, being able to talk with her peers as they study their field.  James plans to be a banker in her future, and therefore values the step-up studying banking at Herrin High School will give her.  She recognizes that serving HHS students through the First Tiger Trust, studying a miniature version of the stock market, and working with local banks will introduce her to the field earlier than others.

Roy Ezell, an employee of First Southern Bank in Herrin, took Mrs. Thompson’s banking and accounting classes and, in retrospect, highly values the experience he received.  Overall, he valued the community he was thrown into, the proctor who would never let him struggle helplessly, and the hands-on financial skills that he sees “people triple [his] age struggle with.”  Working with Mrs. Thompson and the First Tiger Trust gave him valuable experience with bookkeeping and ledger writing that served him to tremendous lengths in his banking career.

There is often the argument that public schools waste students’ time by flooding them with “useless” information that will never help them in their jobs.  That is entirely untrue for Herrin High School.  With the Accounting Course and the experiences students can later receive in the First Tiger Trust, students who take Mrs. Thompson’s classes are undeniably prepared to enter into a financially centered world and thrive there.