18 Junior Accountants

My son Micah, is in 5th grade. Their spelling list for the week was centered around different professions. One of those was an Accountant. The teacher opened the floor up this week to parents who are professionals and wanted to come in an explain what they do to the class.

Micah wanted me to go in, so today I got to recruit 18 5th graders into Accounting. What did I do?

• I gave them all a dollar because accountants work with money. That got their attention.
• I demonstrated taxes by ripping off about a third of a dollar. They were mortified! (Yes I know defacing a bill is illegal. But the drama was worth it. 18 dropped jaws are priceless.)
• I explained that Auditing is like when your parents or your teacher checks your work.
• It's a Christian school so I was able to share some Biblical accounting stores, Joseph purchasing, inventorying and budgeting grain for a famine, Jesus paying the temple tax, God has the hair on your head numbered (only an accountant would do that!), etc. I was also able to share how accountants are tasked with protecting a company's valuable things, so that they get used the right way, just as God thinks that these students are valuable and he protects them so that they can grow up to be used the right way.
• I explained what it takes to be an accountant and that when the numbers get big, we use a calculator. They I gave them all a calculator. They were psyched.
• I explained what I do at Transit TV and they all got a Transit TV glow pen.

I'm sure I ruined the teacher's day with all the toys but I heard at least one kid say "I want to be an accountant when I grow up!" How many times do you hear that!