Quick at the keyboard: Madison Academic High student wins Microsoft state tech title

Sarah Best, Jackson Sun
·3 min read
Microsoft Office state championship Samuel Latham sits in the hallway of Madison Academic High School as he talks to the media in Jackson, Tenn. on June 20, 2023.
Microsoft Office state championship Samuel Latham sits in the hallway of Madison Academic High School as he talks to the media in Jackson, Tenn. on June 20, 2023.

Out of 7,500 students in Tennessee, Samuel Latham placed first as the Microsoft Office state champion and is headed to the National Microsoft Office Championship, a competition that measures technical acumen in the program, in Florida later this month.

Latham, a 15-year-old rising sophomore at Madison Academic High School, earned the highest score in the quickest time in the state in a series of tests involving Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, Outlook and Excel.

Back in the fall 2022 semester when Latham was a student in teacher and mentor Garry Carroll's computer technology class, he explained the preparation process that led him to take home the state championship title. After finding out he had become the state champion in January, Latham recalls being "surprised."

"I told my parents, immediate family, I talked to Mr. Carroll about it to see what the next steps were for moving on to the national championship," he said.

Computer applications teacher Garry Carroll (left) poses for a picture with his student and Microsoft Office state champion Samuel Latham (right) at Madison Academic High School in Jackson, Tenn. on June 20, 2023.
Computer applications teacher Garry Carroll (left) poses for a picture with his student and Microsoft Office state champion Samuel Latham (right) at Madison Academic High School in Jackson, Tenn. on June 20, 2023.

Carroll noted that though the school has had approximately a dozen state champions in the last seven years, they have yet to have a student bring home the national title. He described the preparation for the tests that students take as "stressful" and "having to do a lot in a short amount of time."

Once a student who passes becomes Microsoft Office certified, he says this gives them an edge over noncertified students when it comes to both college and job applications.

"You think everybody is going to be the state champion, but Samuel showed out," Carroll said. "Samuel's good, real good. I'm very proud of him."

Samuel Latham, Microsoft Office state champion, takes a practice test in his classroom at Madison Academic High School in Jackson, Tenn. on June 20, 2023.
Samuel Latham, Microsoft Office state champion, takes a practice test in his classroom at Madison Academic High School in Jackson, Tenn. on June 20, 2023.

Latham explained that the state competition is done in a student's respective classroom where testing involves the presentation of template PowerPoints, Word documents, or Excel spreadsheets, where the student is then tasked with completing the required edits.

The technical skills mirror real-world skills that are needed to navigate the workforce and college, such as making presentations and completing data-driven tasks.

"You're given 50 minutes to complete all these tasks," Latham said. "So how to become the champion is you're probably going to have to get a perfect score, and then whoever does it the fastest gets declared the champion."

Though admitting that learning and memorizing the formulas for the Excel application was slightly challenging, he shared that he finds PowerPoint most enjoyable and he gets to "see the results of the product you made a lot more clearly."

A sign shows the classroom of Garry Carroll, a computer applications teachers at Madison Academic High School, in Jackson, Tenn. on June 20, 2023.
A sign shows the classroom of Garry Carroll, a computer applications teachers at Madison Academic High School, in Jackson, Tenn. on June 20, 2023.

If crowned the national champion in Orlando, Florida, he will advance to the world championship competition where he will face students from over 100 countries. Latham says the $3,000 he'll receive in prize money if he wins nationals will go toward his college fund.

Carroll added that for Latham to win, he will need to receive "a really good time" against the 49 other students from each state he competes against.

"I'm proud to be going to Florida and have never been to Florida before. I'm proud to represent [Tennessee] and hopefully, I can show out and win," Latham said.

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Madison Academic student wins Microsoft Office state championship