Southern Indiana: November 2025 Highlights
Innovation In Action
Each month, we celebrate the stories of Innovation Accelerator teachers and students making a difference across Indiana and beyond.
Quick Hits:
Silver Creek finance students plugged into the student-led Center for Accounting program and then backed it up with a strong showing at the Academy of Finance State Conference.
A former STARTedUP state finalist returned to her classroom to share her entrepreneurship journey and encourage current students to find problems in their everyday lives.
Accountants assemble!
Jennifer Glaser: Silver Creek High School
Silver Creek’s finance students are ending the semester like they mean it: plugged into bigger conversations and showing up strong in competition. This month, Jen Glaser’s students joined the Center for Accounting’s student ambassador program virtually, stepping into a new, Indy-area initiative that’s still in its formation stages, and took part in their second meeting, acting as a chance to contribute student voice as the program gets built. What makes this program special is how it started: a high-school student leader reached out to peers across the state to co-create a movement that makes accounting feel visible, interesting, and worth exploring through student-led interviews, videos, and real conversations about the field.
And they’re backing that curiosity with performance. At the Academy of Finance State Student Conference at the University of Indianapolis, Silver Creek seniors made it to the finals round on stage in Financial Jeopardy, while a Silver Creek junior won the Commodities Challenge! It was a big moment for the program as students competed against larger schools, held their own, and came home with proof that they can navigate real-world finance concepts under pressure.
Sending the elevator back down
Chase Davis: Charlestown Senior High School
Chase Davis recently brought Leanna Rotondo, a past STARTedUP state finalist, into class to talk with students about what the challenge actually felt like from the inside. She walked them through her own business journey and the steps that took her from early idea to state finalist, giving students a clear, student-to-student look at the path ahead.
Leanna’s reason for coming back was simple: she wanted to help her peers get started. As she put it, “I wanted to come back and help to encourage my peers to find problems in their everyday lives… and solve the problems they find.” She wanted to show students what the process can look like and hope it gets ideas moving for other students.
And she left them with a message that lands best coming from someone close to their age: “I hope that they take away that anything is possible. I didn’t think I would get as far as I did last year but I ended up as a state finalist.” Sometimes that’s the spark a room needs. Not a big speech, just a real example from someone who’s been there.
Student of the Month
Kyleigh Arnold: Columbus Area Career Connection
In Columbus, a Business Pathway classroom is celebrating a student who’s been setting the tone for leadership all year. Ryan, a junior, was named Student of the Month for the way he consistently shows up with responsibility, focus, and genuine enthusiasm, not just for his own work, but for the people around him. His teachers shared that Ryan brings strong ideas to class discussions, produces high-quality work, and naturally steps into a peer-leader role during group projects, keeping others motivated and engaged.
If you want to read the full school spotlight on Ryan, you can check it out here!
