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Sussex Tech’s Jacqueline Yeo named Delaware PowerPoint Champion

Laurel student to compete at national championships in June
February 11, 2019

Sussex Technical High School senior Jacqueline Yeo of Laurel has been named Delaware’s PowerPoint Champion after a statewide skills challenge, and she will represent the First State in the national championships later this year.

Yeo, a Sussex Tech business, finance and marketing student who plans to attend Salisbury University to study business, said the PowerPoint challenge required a solid knowledge of the slideshow program’s tools and functions, including changing formats, adding slides, creating animations, using transitions and more. Yeo’s score won first place on a timed statewide assessment.

Succeeding in the competition is not just about learning the nuts and bolts of a software program, Yeo noted. “We’re able to translate it into skills for our future careers,” she said. “And as we learn each skill, it enhances our memory so we can do better at learning other things.”

Yeo began using Microsoft Office products in middle school, and honed her skills in the business, finance and marketing career area at Sussex Tech. “We use them almost every day here,” she said.

For the Certiport Microsoft Office Specialist U.S. National Championship, running Friday-Sunday, June 17-19, in Orlando, Fla., Yeo will have to undertake a more free-form challenge. State champions are given a blank template and must create a slideshow from scratch that meets the competition parameters and the assignment’s goals. The winner coming out of that competition will represent the United States at the July world championship in New York City.

Sussex Tech’s business, finance and marketing career area gives students direct, hands-on experience in running in-school businesses, as well as a practical grounding in soft skills like public speaking, organization and team management, according to business instructor Frank Makray.

“We’re proud of our students for developing technical skills as well as showing personal initiative, both of which are vital to careers in business,” Makray said. “Jacqueline is a great example of how our students are prepared to excel in the workforce and in the classroom.”

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