Forest Lake State High School year 12 student Zack will be representing Australia at the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) World Championship held in California, America from July 28 to July 31.
The annual event involves more than 760,000 students from 116 countries who compete to be the World Number 1 in Powerpoint, Word or Excel, successfully performing a number of tasks in the shortest time possible.
Zack qualified for the position after receiving gold at the Microsoft Office Specialist Australian Title held in 2023.
He has since been working on sophisticated and lesser-known features of the software, as well as improving his speed and understanding of the tasks he will be challenged with.
“I’ve been diligently preparing for the competition,” he said.
“I’m excited and proud to represent Australia in this tournament.”
FLSHS Digital Technologies and Business head of department MJ Raatz said Zack had been a true leader in the field of Esports and was instrumental in helping the other students, including Luke who placed 2nd and Nyka who placed 4th in Australia.
“Since joining our Esports Program of Excellence in Year 9 back in 2021, he has been a standout competitive player for Forest Lake State High School,” MJ said.
“Zack was instrumental in our domination of the Microsoft Test – he actually taught us the literacy of the tests and how to read the questions quicker.
“Zack, Luke, Nyka, Natalie, Nick, and Karl have all ranked among the top 20 students in Australia.”
Zack also recently led the Forest Lake Lions to their first national title in Rocket League with Acer Computers in the Australian High School Esports League.
MJ said the international MOS competition would be a truly momentous occasion for Zack, who has spent his time helping, supporting and developing others in his school community.
“It is the first time that Forest Lake SHS has had a representative in this competition as Australian Champion. Zack needs to be congratulated for this,” MJ said.
“I’m sure he will make us proud, no matter the outcome. We are secretly hoping for a win!”
Zack said he would not have made it this far without the support of his excellent teacher, Mr Raatz, as well as his family and friends.
“Not only did he create Esports in schools around Australia – including ours, but his ability to always care for students and make school fun is unmatched,” Zack said.
“I would like to thank my family, friends, and girlfriend for their unwavering support throughout the past year. Their encouragement has been instrumental in my journey.
“I’m also incredibly grateful to the generous donors of our Esports Program of Excellence, and to Prodigy Learning for providing us with the $150 MOS Exam Licences that enable us to compete in the tournament.”
