Steele student wins Microsoft Office National Championship

Northwest ISD is proud to recognize three students who recently competed at the Microsoft Office Specialist U.S. National Championship, in Orlando, Florida. Two NISD students placed in the competition, including Preston Nnadi from Steele Early College High School who was named a national champion.

Preston, who just completed his sophomore year at Steele ECHS, topped 195 finalists at the live competitive event and was named the Microsoft PowerPoint (Microsoft 365 Apps) U.S. National Champion. As the first-place winner, Preston received a $3,000 cash prize and earned a trip for himself and a chaperone to the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship in Anaheim, California, in July.

Additionally Robert Roos from Steele ECHS and Trystenn Campbell from Eaton High School traveled to Orlando for the competition. Robert placed second in the Microsoft Word (Microsoft 365 Apps) competition. Trystenn participated alongside Preston in the Microsoft PowerPoint (Microsoft 365 Apps) competition.

Across the country, more than 98,500 students ages 13 to 22 entered the competition by submitting a qualified, passing score on one of certification exams for Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint. There are two qualifying periods to enter: the Fall Qualifier and the Spring Qualifier. At the end of each competition qualifying round, invitations are issued to the students with the top scores in their exam category, for a total of twelve students from each state possible. 

During the live competitive event, finalists were given a printed copy of a document, spreadsheet, or presentation to recreate along with printed instructions and digital assets. They were then scored according to the accuracy of the recreation compared to the original. 

Congratulations to Preston, Robert and Trystenn, as well as Steele CTE Teacher Sarah Zeballos!