News8Austin.com

  77º

02/07/2010 03:14 PM

Waco high school students tackle tax season

By: Bonnie Gonzalez

High school senior Sheyla Hernandez helped people file their taxes.
High school senior Sheyla Hernandez helped people file their taxes.
After a little typing and collecting the right information, Sheyla Hernandez had it down. The high school senior at A.J. Moore Academy in Waco was a tax filing machine.

"We're saving people a lot of money. Other places they go and pay $100, $200," Sheyla said.

At A.J. Moore Academy, Hernandez and her peers do it for free.

"They're learning and they're helping," tax return client Coleen Cardaneta said.

Cardaneta had no problem coming to the high school to do her taxes.

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"From what I hear, they don't make very many mistakes," Cardaneta said.

Compared to other tax return programs in the state the program ranks number three for accuracy, according to a spokesperson with NeighborWorks Waco.

That's not to say the students don't have their worries.

"I get really nervous, because I'm like what if they think I don't know how to do this. And then sometimes I feel like I ask too many questions, but I just want to make sure everything is right," Hernandez said.

Waco high school students tackle tax season

That's so they can keep their clients like Cardaneta coming back for next year's tax season.

"I was pretty happy, because I get a return," Cardaneta said chuckling.

The students who participate in the program at A.J. Moore academy take business classes their junior and senior year, where they learn how to file taxes.

To ensure accuracy, teachers give the return one final look before it's filed.