Congratulations to Brookfield High School Senior Jocelyn Linamen - she has placed eighth in the Microsoft Office Specialist State Championship Fall Qualifier event! Linamen is just the second Brookfield student to receive statewide recognition since the implementation of Microsoft Office courses at the high school in the fall of 2020. “I surprised myself,” Linamen said when asked about the recognition. “I didn’t set out to achieve this when I took the test, I just wanted to score high enough to receive a [Inudstry Recognized] credential, so this is a nice surprise!”
Brookfield High School students can enroll in Microsoft courses in which they can earn Industry-Recognized Credentials (IRC’s) in the area of business and finance in addition to earning elective credit for high school. IRC’s help employers validate the knowledge and skills of potential employees and saves valuable time in assessing the skills of job applicants. Students have two course options at BHS; one focuses on training for Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Outlook while the other offers training and WorkKeys assessment for Microsoft Excel. As students test for their IRCs, those scores are submitted for consideration in the state championship qualifier events. (For reference, a score of 700 is passing and 1,000 is the highest score you can achieve.) Students aged 13 to 22 are all eligible to participate in qualifying competitions, with the top three scorers moving on to National Championship events.
“In short, Joscelyn has the 8th highest score of anyone in the state who took the Microsoft Word exam in the fall testing period,” explains teacher George Lesnansky. “This is an incredible achievement and is a tribute to the hard work and dedication that Jocelyn showed during her studies and preparation.”
Though Linamen plans to pursue a degree in art history at Kent State following her high school graduation, she knows the certification, state qualification recognition, and knowledge will be useful to her as she completes her studies and applies for jobs. Congratulations Joscelyn!