The 2018/2019 school year is well underway and the last few months have been nothing short of fantastic for Washington State, in particular, West Valley Junior High, has pulled out success after success, they don’t look to be stopping anytime soon.
“At West Valley Junior High, we take MOS Certifications very seriously. We train our students extensively with the skills required to get certified and instill the value of being certified in them. These are 7th graders and the tests are worded in complex sentences that need to be deciphered carefully. 
We teach our students strategy and how to break down questions, so they can perform the tasks successfully. We truly believe that having such a credential equips young students to be more productive and successful in other subject areas as well as be college and career-ready. We are very fortunate to have a thriving Computer Essentials/Science program in 7th and 8th grade at our District with support from Microsoft and CCI Learning. Last school year, our school ranked first in Washington for the highest number of students certified at our grade level. We have started out maintaining that rank this year as well and hope to continue building our students to reach higher goals,” says West Valley Junior High teacher Devina Khan, Washington State.
One of the highlights this year has been our 12-year-old, 7th grader, Andrew Cabbage who recently earned his Word Expert Certification and Word Master Certification. He passed the Excel Expert Part 1 certification test. He is a self-driven student with an incredible mindset. Andrew believes that “it is indeed a challenge to get Master certified, 
but with a great enough want and the resources, it is completely possible. The main thing to do is to set goals, and on the first day of school, I promised myself I would get Expert certified, and I have. All in all, the most important thing is to be motivated. Why in the world should you be certified? Well- I’m not entirely sure myself, but I heard it was good to put on your resume, plus I have a rivalry with my brother, so that helped. But mostly, think ahead, set goals, and always try to better yourself.”
Way to go Andrew and keep up the fantastic work! From the looks of it, we will be seeing many more exciting things coming out of West Valley Junior High and the other schools of Washington State this school year and we can’t wait to find out what they are.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), Certiport, Microsoft and CCI Learning have been partnered since 2011 to implement the Microsoft Imagine Academy program and deliver Microsoft Certifications to Washington State. Every Middle, Junior High and High School in the State can offer Microsoft certification exams to any student, staff or faculty member, fully funded by OSPI.
Each school has access to Microsoft Certifications which include: Microsoft Office Specialist, Microsoft Technology Associate and Microsoft Certified Educator. Each of these programs enhances the qualifications and skills of each learner and proves that with a valid industry recognized certification.
Since the program’s inception in 2011, there have been over 150,000+ Microsoft Certification exams passed in Washington State. Of those, there have been over 1,000 test candidates that have achieved the highest level of expertise, becoming Microsoft Office Specialist Masters, a truly amazing accomplishment.
No Comment