VTHS accountants score above average

Vernon - Gerri Desmet’s students at Vernon Township High School are bullish on accounting. Desmet, business education and technology teacher, recently learned that students in her advanced accounting class scored significantly higher than the national and state averages after taking the N.J. state-required “NOCTI” exam (National Occupational Competency Test Incorporated) at the end of the last school term. Students must take the “NOCTI” exit exam before receiving final credit for the course. For several years now, the scores of VTHS students have exceeded the state and national averages in both the performance and the written sections of the exam. Many students achieved grades of 100 on individual sections of the test. Assessments are given in the area of journalizing and posting, payroll preparation, banking and banking procedures, automated accounting, merchandise inventory and completing the accounting cycle. Desmet has made great strides in developing the accounting curriculum as part of the VTHS business education and technology elective program. The current accounting curriculum is totally computerized to keep up with industry standards and demands for future accountants. Desmet still requires beginning accounting students to learn the pencil and paper way so they truly understand the process before they transfer their skills to the automated software programs. Former students now working in the industry credit Desmet for providing them with a strong knowledge base, excellent teaching style, and, most of all, for her praise and encouragement for a job well done. Desmet has also recently developed a successful and heavily enrolled business, personal law and finance program. The business and technology department at VTHS provides opportunities for students who are thinking of pursuing business, marketing, and entrepreneurship as careers.