More than 400 High School Students Visit King’s College for State-wide Accounting Career Day

More than 400 students from 15 high schools throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania visited King’s College today as part of a Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) initiative that helps young adults explore accounting degrees and employment opportunities. 

The PICPA series connects students with accounting professionals—many of them alumni—to discuss career pathways in public accounting, forensic accounting, tax accounting, financial planning, education, information technology, and consulting. 

The day began with inspirational words from keynote speaker Ryan Donovan ’11, enterprise engineering compliance and project management lead at Stack AV. The students then attended a discussion with professional speakers who shared stories of their various careers and valuable insights into the profession. The day concluded with a panel of current King’s students sharing their academic and internship experiences.

The sessions were held across campus in the McGowan School of Business Burke Auditorium, Scandlon Physical Education Center, and Sheehy-Farmer Campus Center. Speakers included King’s alumni Kellie Bertolet ’17, audit supervisor at WSFS Bank; Ryan Hinkle ’25, client service associate at Morgan Stanley; Mikayla Kidd ’22, senior assurance associate at Baker Tilly; Emma Lehman ’21, senior associate at PwC; Kailey Gustinucci ’21, senior associate at Kearney & Company; and Kyle Osterhoudt ’21, senior associate at KPMG. 

The student panelists were Melanie Baldwin van Meer, Luke Brink, Sean Forrest, Khalil Khan, Zander Kraklio (Accounting Association President), Darlene Nunez, Nathan Stilp, and Jake Ulmer. 

The College has been a PICPA Career Day site for more than 10 years.

“We’re thrilled to welcome so many high school students to campus and introduce them to the dynamic world of accounting,” said Dr. Jessica Evanko, associate professor in the College’s Kearney & Company Department of Accounting. “Our goal is to help them see the value of an accounting education and the wide range of opportunities available in this rapidly evolving profession. We hope the stories they hear today spark curiosity and inspire them to consider accounting as a future career path.” 

The following high schools were in attendance for the event: Abington Heights, Berwick, Blue Mountain, Central Columbia, Crestwood, Delaware Valley, Hazleton Area, Holy Cross, Holy Redeemer, Honesdale, Pittston Area, Tunkhannock, Wallenpaupack, Wilkes-Barre Area, and Wyoming Valley West.