Following his 2015 graduation, alumnus Joe Halikos traveled to Texas to compete against 4,000 students in the MS Office World Competition.

Receiving a perfect score and a quick time on the Excel certification test, Halikos first qualified to compete in Orlando, and then moved on to the World competition.

“I think it’s really cool,” principal Tom Lietz said. “It speaks about the CTE classes. We don’t spend enough time to talk about classes that are college bound.”

Recent graduate Amy Yax placed second in the test with a perfect score, but not as fast of a time, and did not compete in Orlando.

“I was very proud of them,” teacher Craig Smale said. “I was especially impressed with the outcome since we never really talked about the compeitition aspect of the test, so it was never really a focus.”

Both students had to put a lot of time and effort to get ready for the competitions. In order to compete, they had to be certified in three different courses: Word, Excel, and Power Point.

“We do a variety of lessons and projects in class,” Smale said, “and do a big study session before the certification test.”

It’s classes like these that don’t receive enough spotlight but help prepare students for the future.

“Being able to sign up for those competitions step up their game because someone is watching,” Lietz said. “I’m happy for the young man because he has opportunities he wouldn’t have had, otherwise.”