Colonial Forge High School: The home of the Eagles and the trailblazers for the VITA program
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program allows high school students to prepare taxes for their community. Colonial Forge High School is the first high school in the state of Virginia to lead this pilot program.
The force behind this endeavor is Ms. Anna Killion who teaches the Juniors and Seniors at Colonial Forge High School. She teaches accounting 1 and 2, economics and personal finance- which is a graduation requirement for Virginia- business management, and business law.
The genesis of the program came to fruition when Ms. Anna Killion heard about this program through other accounting teachers. After meeting with administrators and the IRS representative they started formulating a curriculum to bring this program to Colonial Forge. The program has very strict guidelines to ensure the students are kept within the scope of their training.
“I want to make sure the classes I teach are valuable in the sense that I can give my students as many certifications they can get to really enhance their resumes and competitive chances when going to college.”
The students went through a rigorous module-based training program to earn their basic IRS certification for the current tax year.
“What a unique opportunity for my students to learn an essential life skill and put that into practice to help our community and to really enhance their confidence and knowledge before they leave high school.”
It says a lot about these students. This was a big commitment as most of the training was self-paced. Ms. Killion was available for help and support when needed. Students that felt they were ready for more, Ms. Killion encouraged them to go for their advanced IRS certification.
The clinics are in the evenings and the weekends.
“The students have really enjoyed them, its so special to see my students in a professional setting, some have even rescheduled work schedules so that they are available for the clinics.”
The students are supervised during the clinics and have a quality assurance process prior to submission. The VITA program requires two reviews prior to submission to the IRS. The student will sit with the taxpayer and conduct the initial return. Upon completion with student 1, they will review the return with a second student. Once that’s completed, Ms. Killion reviews it once more before its transmitted to the IRS.
“I want our community to know that our students are trained, and we have set up this quality review process, so they feel confident in our students.”
Year one of this program wraps up in March. Ms. Killion has great plans to continue to grow this program and enhance the lives of the students at Colonial Forge.
