Certiport, the leading provider of performance-based IT certification exams that accelerate academic and career opportunities for learners and Microsoft just named the Microsoft Office Specialist U.S. National Champions and these six teenagers are the best in the United States at Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint! Over 350,000 students from all 50 states entered the competition, and 148 finalists came to Atlanta, Georgia this week to take timed tests where they were asked to recreate Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents to prove their expertise.
Now – they’ll be headed to the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship in Orlando Florida at the end of July. The tech Olympics!
The female winner, Linh Nguyen, is our first U.S. Champion who learned English as a second language. Another winner, Jason Benda, has already won an IT support internship thanks to his Microsoft Office certifications. Yet another, Cameron Pillatsch, is not your typical “computer nerd.” He has visited the on campus suspension room but found his niche with Microsoft Office.
The champions topped 148 finalists at the event in Atlanta, Georgia. The first-place winners will now head to Orlando, Florida for the MOS World Championship from July 29 – August 1, 2018.
Students from 13 to 22 years old participated in one of six competition tracks by submitting a qualified, passing score on any of the following exams: Microsoft Office Specialist Word (2016 or 2013), Microsoft Office Specialist Excel (2016 or 2013), and Microsoft Office Specialist PowerPoint (2016 or 2013). First place winners received a $3,000 cash prize, second place $1500 and third place $750.
The MOS U.S. National Champions are as follows:
MOS Word 2016 Champion, Aydan Soto, Age 14, Florida
MOS Excel 2016 Champion, Kevin Dimaculangan, Age 14, Florida
MOS PowerPoint 2016 Champion, Linh Nguyen, Age 17, Washington
MOS Word 2013 Champion, Jesse Ssengonzi, Age 15, North Carolina
MOS Excel 2013 Champion, Jason Benda, Age 18, Wisconsin
MOS PowerPoint 2013 Champion, Cameron Pillatsch, Age 17, Virginia
Scoring higher than more than 350,000 students from all over the U.S. who entered a passing score on an eligible MOS Exam in the qualifying round, 148 finalists were given a printed copy of a document, spreadsheet or presentation to recreate along with printed instructions and digital assets. They were then scored according to the accuracy of the recreation compared to the original. The champions in each program, along with a chaperone, have won a trip to participate in the 2018 MOS World Championship in Orlando, Florida.
Raymond Murray, Vice President, Business Development, Pearson VUE stated the following:
“We’re so impressed by all of these students – they’ve proven they can use Microsoft Office tools effectively which will be a key to successful academic and career pursuits. Our goal is to turn these students from learners to earners, and many of them go on to win internships and jobs as a result of proving their skills in Microsoft Office.”
Certiport anticipates more than 150 finalists from more than 30 countries will compete at the MOS World Championship where students will again participate in a unique competition exam in their track. Six winners will receive cash prizes, medals and the title of Microsoft Office Specialist Word, Excel or PowerPoint World Champion.
