Two Discovery High School students have earned the right to represent Georgia at Certiport’s 2024 Microsoft Office Specialist U.S. National Championship in Orlando, Florida. The event will be held in June. Simon Mesfun, a graduating senior, and Sophia Ho, an 11th-grade student, qualified for the national championship after earning perfect scores and the fastest times at the Georgia Microsoft Office Specialist Spring Qualifier, which measures competitors' proficiency in Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Participants take timed exams that test their skills in these programs, covering various tasks and functions they might encounter in real-world scenarios. These exams assess their ability to efficiently and accurately complete tasks such as formatting documents, creating spreadsheets with complex formulas, and designing dynamic presentations.       

      “These students are amazing. Not only do they both have six industry certifications, but they are also representing the entire state of Georgia for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint,” says Discovery High School Business & Technology Pathway Lead Sherri Stephenson. “This is a great opportunity for them; they are competing against other universities and could win a college scholarship.”

     At the national competition, Simon and Sophia will compete against other top-scoring students across the U.S. to win scholarships, prizes, trophies, certificates, the title of U.S. National Champion, and an all-expenses-paid trip to Anaheim, California, for the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship in July.