Mr. Celum and his student team of “tax slayers” had another great year of preparing tax returns for the members of the Dinuba community.  Mr. Celum challenged his team to beat the previous number of tax returns from the prior school year. The previous year, the tax slayers had finished about 723 tax returns; this year, the new tax slayers completed 1,072 tax returns, and most of them were from the Dinuba High School accounting students. This put the students in the “ Million Dollar Club” with the new record of $1,233,306 in tax returns.

With DHS partnering with CSET, all of the accounting students went through 3 weeks of tax training through the VITA program, where they would earn 3 IRS certifications for preparing tax returns for others. The Vita program, which the IRS sponsors, offers free tax help to low-income taxpayers, people with disabilities, and limited English-speaking taxpayers who need assistance in preparing their own tax returns. During February, his classroom was turned into a tax preparation center, and on Monday-Thursday, for a few hours after school. The CSET offices in Porterville, Visalia, Tulare, and Pixley delivered many returns filed by students. The year had 32 students in the VITA program that committed to staying after school to help prepare the tax returns, and 19 of the students committed 25+ hours and will be recognized with a $500 scholarship from grant money, secured by CSET. This partnership was great because it allowed students to learn real-life job skills and give back to their community. 

Congratulations to Mr. Celum and his team!