Top in NZ - Top 3 in the World!

Top in NZ - Top 3 in the World!

Making to the top three in the world’s largest ICT competition is no easy task. To do it twice is extraordinary! Meet Jayden Cooke, who has now added a second medal and a cheque for USD$1,500 to his collection, following his success in the Excel 2016 category of the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship.

Beating more than 670,000 contestants worldwide, Jayden (an Avondale College graduate and current intern at the college’s Innovation Programme) is just one of four Avondale College students who achieved top-ten results in the final round of the international competition held in Anaheim, USA, from 31 July – 2 August.

It’s an extraordinary tally for the west Auckland secondary school, which has now achieved twelve top-ten in the world results, including three medals, since they began taking part four years ago.

The competition tests participants’ ability to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint as they race against the clock to create unique project-based assignments.

Open to secondary and tertiary students aged 13 to 22, this year the competition attracted 1.1 million entries from 670,000 individuals in 122 countries.

Avondale College fielded the entire Australasian team of six at the international final after dominating the New Zealand finals for the fourth year running.

Only 200 finalists from 50 countries made it through to the world championship, and after an intense round of competition, the final tally saw New Zealand’s Avondale team score highly in the published results.

In addition to Jayden’s bronze medal-winning performance, three of his teammates proved they are amongst the world’s ten best users of Microsoft applications. Shrey Tailor (Year 12) came fifth in Microsoft Excel 2013, Sebastian Thomas (Year 11), eighth in Microsoft PowerPoint 2013, and Ed Allison (Year 10) came eighth place in Microsoft PowerPoint 2016.

Brent Lewis, Principal of Avondale College is very proud of the achievements of the Avondale students. “They are setting a new benchmark for excellence for all young New Zealanders,” he says.

Aaron Osmond, General Manager of certification provider and competition organiser, Certiport says the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship is inspiring – not only because these students won an impressive award, but because they have gained valuable workforce skills that will benefit them throughout their academic and career pursuits.

“The best part is watching the champions go home and then reporting back to us with all of the amazing things they are doing academically and in the workforce.”

ENDS

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