A team of seven Chagrin Falls High School juniors earned second place at Kent State University's High School Accounting Case Challenge on October 30, exploring how artificial intelligence is changing the accounting profession and what those changes could mean for the future.

Ben Lyndall, Jack Shein, Zane Zabell, Chris Solvesky, Dominick Pantuso, Nick Warner and James Marcin represented CFHS in the competition, which brought together students from six area high schools.

Hosted by Kent State's Department of Accounting, this year's challenge asked students to consider how artificial intelligence is transforming the profession while examining the important role accountants will continue to play.

Working as a team, the students developed a five-minute video exploring the relationship between technology and accounting, using examples from popular culture to help illustrate their ideas. They also considered how accountants and AI could work together over the next decade in areas such as financial reporting, auditing and taxation.

The competition gave students an opportunity to apply their classroom learning to a real-world challenge, combining research, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration as they considered the future of a changing profession.