Yelm High School junior John Leland took home second place in the 2023 fall qualifier Microsoft Office Specialist Washington State Championship in the Excel category. He competed against students from across the state to earn this coveted placement.
Students aged 13 to 22 were eligible to participate in one of six competition tracks by submitting a qualified, passing score on the Microsoft Office Specialist Word, Excel or PowerPoint certification exams by Dec. 15, 2023.
“When you told us that someone won, I wondered who because I didn’t think it was me,” Leland said in a press release. “When you said my name, I was excited because I’ve never received a state award before.”
Students will have another opportunity to qualify for the national competition in the spring qualifying event. Yelm Community Schools offers students multiple opportunities in career and technical education (CTE) courses to learn how to operate Microsoft Office software. Several courses in the CTE department offer free community college credit for demonstrating mastery of the standards at the college level.
