Serving the community - one tax filing at a time

Just in time for tax season, seniors attending Marvin E. Robinson School of Business and Management at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center have become certified tax preparers. 

“I'm big on building community in my classroom because if we understand people come from all walks of life and that everybody's situation is different, we can understand the type of community we serve here in Dallas,” said Arieal Goodson, business and finance teacher at Townview.

Following her example, Goodson’s students volunteer their weekends by helping low-income residents in the South Dallas community file their taxes. Many of the students speak English and Spanish, and by communicating with community members in their language, the students are able to help them gain life skills in an empathetic and nurturing way.

“People think taxes are a bad thing and oftentimes they’re afraid of doing them, but it can be easy if you stay on top of it and these kids are really excited about helping people,” she said. “If they could volunteer every day, they would.”

This is the first year Goodson successfully piloted the VITA program at Townview. She partnered with Dallas Community Tax Centers, which provided materials and resources for students to study as they worked through the certification courses.

To be certified, students were given scenarios about individuals from various tax brackets and family situations. In addition to becoming IRS-certified tax preparers, the class is also working to become certified in Microsoft Office and Excel.

“These kids are just brilliant, one-of-a-kind students taking extremely hard courses,” Goodson said.