Fiducial | We help your business grow and be profitable.

by Stephen Parezo

Angela Winterling

January 8, 2007—In support of National Mentor Month, Fiducial announced last week that it has entered into an agreement with Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, MD, to promote increased involvement in the local educational system and make an investment in tomorrow’s business leaders.

As part of its “Adopt-a-School” Program, this one-year commitment allows Fiducial’s management and employees to get involved by working in the school as well as mentoring youth through in school volunteerism, fundraising and sponsorship events.

“The benefits of the Adopt-a-School Program contribute to positive changes and can help students gain access to more real world opportunities in the small business areas of business services,” said Rochelle Owsley, Fiducial’s marketing manager.

Three sets of student interns will participate in the program at Fiducial’s Technical and Administrative Support Center (TASC) in Columbia , to learn more about the company and the types of careers that are available.

One student will be assigned to write an original research paper while others will intern in marketing, IT and human resources. A third group, work study, will find out if a career in the administrative area might suit them after high school.

‘Test drive’ opportunity

According to Owsley, smart companies realize that maximizing interns’ experiences benefits both students and employers.

Paul Bresson

“Students get a real opportunity to develop their skills and employers get an opportunity to ‘test drive’ potential full-time employees,” she said.

Teachers at Wilde Lake were elated that Fiducial has taken them under its wing. Rena Bezilla, a Talented and Gifted (TAG) education specialist, admitted she was “flabbergasted” that a business would be so ready to adopt a school.

“Most of the time it’s the school that has to initiate these openings,” said Bezilla.

Suzanne Mesol, a work study coordinator at Wilde Lake , believes these types of programs are vital because they give students with disabilities the chance to get out in the community and see what the world is about.

“It’s a great opportunity for these kids to get an idea about whether this is something they can do for the rest of their lives, whether they have disabilities or not,” said Mesol.

Angela Winterling, Fiducial’s corporate recruiter, sees the program as a way to expose students to corporate America and especially to what Fiducial does.

“It will give them some insights and information on what a career in recruiting is like,” said Winterling who finds these programs are integral to increasing Fiducial’s presence in local communities and getting its name out there.

Best improvement tool

More importantly, she says the Adopt-a-School has a bigger impact on the community since it lets them know “we’ve been here for close to seven years.”

Though the benefits of mentoring are obvious for the recipients, mentors also reap rewards from the experience.

“Whether it’s mentoring or teaching, it allows the individual employee to take a look at what they do and how to best present themselves,” Winterling said. “It’s never a bad thing to be aware and be conscious of it. Sometimes the best improvement tool is teaching others.”

Paul Bresson, a senior accountant for Fiducial, says having a mentor helps show students just what to expect when they enter the working world. He plans to show them what he does during a typical day such as making journal entries, going through the books and making reconciliations.

“I think this will be beneficial to them because they might have a totally different idea about what they’re doing,” said Bresson.

Stephen Parezo is the Media Manager for Fiducial.

Whatever your small business needs, your Fiducial tax and financial professional can analyze your situation and recommend an appropriate action plan. To locate a Fiducial office nearest you on fiducial.com, see the Zip Code Locator located in the upper right hand corner of the page. Do you have a particular topic that we should be writing about that can help your business? Please send your suggestions to: stephen.parezo@fiducial.com.

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