RUTLAND, Vt. (WCAX) – Tax season is here and this year some high schoolers are becoming tax preparers in Rutland to help people file.
“I just think its a win-win situation,” said Lauryn Charon, a senior at Mount St. Joseph Academy in Rutland, who has been busy preparing to file taxes — not her own — but others in the community. It’s part of a partnership between schools in Rutland County and the nonprofit BROC Community Action.
“We try to make connections with local students, and when Castleton took a brief hiatus, we had the opportunity to reach out to MSJ,” said BROC’s Tom Donahue.
The organization helps low to middle-income Vermonters with financial, food, and housing assistance. The volunteer income tax assistance program, VITA, is another long-standing service they provide with some help from the community.
“Instead of class time, we get study hall. So, it gives us time to work on our morning classes that we miss out on and our teachers are super understanding about what we’re actually doing and why we’re doing it,” said Lexi Fuster, an MSJ senior.
According to BROC’s website, the program helped Vermonters recoup over $200,000 in their 2022 tax refunds. But how did high schoolers learn to get up to speed with IRS tax preparation standards?
“The midterm exam were the four VITA courses, so that was kind of easy. I did a unit on nothing but taxes, and I know, having been here before– what to focus on,” said Hurley Cavacas, a math and business teacher at MSJ.
He says the opportunity also presents itself as a chance for students to find the next steps after graduating. “Our accounting program has gotten a little smaller at Castleton this year. We were able to run our income tax class and have our lab through BROC,” Cavacas said. “It’s a wonderful life skill and it’s an even better skill to teaching the kids customer service, how to deal with the public, how to be able to give back to the community.”
BROC’s Donahue says they’ll continue to help others prepare until April 9.
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