Michael Balik College Student and Part-time Instructor Certifications Earned Microsoft Office Specialist Word and PowerPoint   Certiport Center Perkiomen Valley High School Location Collegeville, Pennsylvania

In his own words: "[Microsoft Office Specialist exams] do a good job of presenting the topics and providing real-life scenarios to complete. Not only can you say you know a program, but you can prove you know it. You can't 'wing it' with these exams."

Certification at Pennsylvania High School Equates to Academic, Community, and Career Success
Wall of Fame recognizes hundreds of students who have earned Microsoft Office Specialist credentials

When Michael Balik earned the first Microsoft® Office Specialist certification at Perkiomen Valley High School, business education teachers Jean Ann DePietropaolo and Hayden Cochran didn't know they were starting a trend. But over the succeeding four school years, hundreds of students have taken these teachers' elective courses and earned certification credentials that prove their expertise with Microsoft Office programs. And what of Balik? He has pursued post-secondary education and returned to work with his hometown school district teaching night classes in word processing and administering the high school's network. Certification has definitely led to academic and career success in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.

BACKGROUND
Perkiomen Valley High School in Collegeville , Pennsylvania, was looking for a way to promote its business department. Cochran was personally interested in computer certification and took a sabbatical from teaching to earn 11 Office Specialist certifications and status as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. A stroke of brilliance soon followed: “We could build a testing center here and have students prove their knowledge of the Office programs,” he proposed.

Shortly after Perkiomen Valley High School became an authorized testing center, or Certiport Center, Balik was the first student to take an Office Specialist exam. He was a senior at the time and jumped at the opportunity to earn Office Specialist certifications in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint®. “Because of time, I was limited to just those two tests,” he said. “I would have loved to take all of them.”

PROCESS
Perkiomen Valley High School has an elective course dedicated to Office Specialist certification. The course lasts a full school year and is supported by DDC Training Services textbooks and software. It covers five applications—Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook®. DePietropaolo provides students “skills sets,” which are based on the published exam objectives, to help students focus their learning.

Students’ grades for the course are based on assigned projects from the DDC texts. If a student earns a certification, they get a bonus. “Ms. DePietropaolo is right in there with them,” said Cochran. “She gives them ‘high fives’ and pep talks to psych them up for their exams. It’s great.”

The school has two computer labs for Office Specialist exam preparation, each of which consists of 30 workstations. “Practice tests are available on the network,” Cochran said. “Students must earn at least 95 percent on a practice test to take an Office Specialist exam.”

As the first student to go through the exam process, Balik prepared for his exams by reviewing the Office Specialist exam objectives on the Microsoft website and reviewing the software itself. “The functionality of the exams is great, “ he said. “They do a good job of presenting the topics and providing real-life scenarios to complete. Not only can you say you know a program, but you can prove you know it. You can’t ‘wing it’ with these exams. These are the application-level tests that prove you know what you’re doing.”

The school district funds the exams to keep costs down for its students. “We pay for every exam a student takes,” Cochran said. “We pay for exams for other courses, so our philosophy is that we should pay for these tests, too.”

CERTIFICATION
The number of exams administered by the Perkiomen Valley High School computer lab has increased substantially since it first began offering Office Specialist certification four years ago. The first year, only 11 exams were given. That number rose to 33 exams the second year and then to 165 exams the third year. Last year, 125 exams were administered. “We are one of the few schools in the eastern United States doing this volume of certifications,” said Cochran.

The school has a pass rate of more than 90 percent. “Maybe only a dozen have failed,” Cochran said. “And if they do, we bring them back almost immediately to try again. We review the areas they need extra help on and then put them back in the testing center within a week.”

Since it became a Certiport Center, the high school has certified 13 students in Expert-level exams. In addition, six students have earned perfect scores on exams, and three students have earned the Microsoft Office Specialist Master credential.

“We have a Wall of Fame that is really impressive and keeps the students highly motivated,” Cochran said. They frame students’ photographs and certificates and hang them on a wall surrounding the Office Specialist logo and banner. “They’re in a primary quarter of the school where every teacher and every student walks past them every day. There are hundreds of framed photos and certifications. Experts have a blue ribbon and are hung in the center. You can’t miss it.”

Cochran said the area’s school board also recognizes students who achieve certification. Students receive a special certificate from the board and Expert-level students are presented at a board meeting. “We have a lot of support from the school board,” DePietropaolo said.

Several Perkiomen Valley High School teachers, as well as teachers from other schools in the Perkiomen Valley School District and participants in the district’s community education program, have also certified.

Balik was approached shortly after graduation to teach an introductory Microsoft Word course for the community education department. He started teaching basic computing as part of his night class, and soon elevated the coursework to prepare his students for certification. “I encourage my students to take things to the next level,” he said. Balik has had students certify in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

RESULT
“We are extremely proud of our Perkiomen Valley High School Office Specialist students,” said DePietropaolo. “We challenge them to believe in their certification success.”

Cochran said the next step is to begin offering CompTIA® A+® and Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) certification exams. As soon as hardware, operating systems, and servers are ready, they will encourage students to “step up” and work on their MCP exams. “The school district is building a science and technology center,” he said. “The state-of-the-art facility will have computer labs and over 35 classrooms. We are very excited for it to open for the next school year.”

DePietropaolo is eager to see students use their Office Specialist certification in a career study program the school sponsors for seniors before they graduate. During the last six weeks of their final school year, students have the opportunity to volunteer in the community at a business of their choice. “We would love to see them roll their Office Specialist skills into this career study and provide community service,” she said. “We encourage them to add their certification to their resumes and business cards. They can even volunteer to help with technology in local businesses. These students are so computer literate and advanced. We’ve even had them helping the secretaries and counseling department at Perkiomen Valley High School.”

Many Perkiomen Valley High School students go on to pursue vocational school or college. Frequently, they report back to DePietropaolo and Cochran that they are way ahead of everyone else in their post-secondary courses. “They are appreciative of the opportunity they had to become certified and are excited about what they know,” said Cochran. “They are definitely accelerated in technology above other students. Plus, they have a lot of personal satisfaction in their accomplishment.”

Cochran said the American Council on Education Credit by Examination Transcript is a big opportunity for students. “They get really excited because their exams equal credit to some colleges,” he said. “It’s an expense for them (processing the paperwork to receive the credit costs about US$35), but at least the exam and the credit were free.”

Balik now attends Pennsylvania State University, where he is finishing his Bachelor of Science degree in Information Sciences and Technology. The major combines computer science and business, and his certifications have contributed to Balik’s success in his classes. During his first year, he was required to take introductory-level courses in computer applications. “I was able to breeze through them,” he said. “And now, in my higher-level classes, I’ve been required to do more and more formal documentation. My Word expertise has helped me a lot.”

In addition to his studies at Penn State and teaching night classes for the school district, Balik also works as a network technician for the Perkiomen Valley School District. “I’ve always known I’ve wanted to work with computers,” he said. “I don’t think I would have taken off on the application level of computing without going through the certification experience with Microsoft Office. I would definitely recommend Office Specialist certification to others.”

“It’s pretty amazing to see how the certification has really skyrocketed at Perkiomen Valley High School since I participated in the exams,” Balik concluded. “The kids are really into it. They are very excited to schedule and take their exams. They love the recognition they get. It’s amazing.”