Did you know that 5 of the last 6 Canadian students to qualify for the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship are from SD42?
Whether your dream is competing for software supremacy against the world’s best or you just want to learn how to create professional-looking graphs for your lab report, SD42’s Microsoft IT Academy can teach you the skills you need to thrive in the digital age.
The popular program of choice delivers a digital curriculum and chance to earn multi-level Microsoft certifications, ranging from specialist to expert and master. Microsoft-certified students leave high school prepared for post-secondary success and enjoy a competitive advantage when it comes to landing a job.
“Every business uses Microsoft Office – it’s the most ubiquitous piece of software out there,” said Todd Goodman, a Microsoft Academy teacher at Thomas Haney. “Even if you’re not going into the computer field, you are learning skills that will be extremely useful in whatever career you choose.”
Goodman noted that a former SD42 student recently landed a job at an accounting firm thanks in part to her Microsoft certifications.
“Employers require students to have a certain level of computer understanding, and they expect them to understand, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. And they just expect that they know these things because they are the computer generation,” added Vanessa Watkins who teaches Microsoft Academy at Westview Secondary. “[Students] get certifications and something meaningful in the end. I like that they are learning skills that they will need.”
Avery, a Grade 12 student at Westview, has been a Microsoft Academy student for two years. “In the future, I want to be a police officer, so there’s going to be paperwork that I’ve got to do, so it’s good to know how to use every program. I’ve got five [Microsoft] certifications.”
Microsoft IT Academy is offered at Samuel Robertson Technical, Thomas Haney and Westview. To learn more: http://www.sd42.ca/academy/microsoft-academy/