© 2025 WGCU News
PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Dunbar High students to represent Florida at national competitions

WGCU | By WGCU Staff
Published June 1, 2023 at 1:37 PM EDT
Lee County schools
/
Special to WGCU
From left, top row, Andrew Chuang Saladin and Conner Beard were just crowned Florida State Champions. Andrew in Word 2019 and Conner in Excel. Brian Velazquez, bottom, left, won a state championship for PowerPoint in December. A fourth Dunbar student, Ann Gracy, bottom right, is representing Florida at the 2023 Adobe Certified Professional U.S. National Championship.

Three Dunbar High School students will go for the triple crown this summer at the 2023 Certiport Microsoft Office Specialist U.S. National Championship.

The Fort Myers school will have a state champion competing in each of the three categories: Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Andrew Chuang Saladin and Conner Beard were just crowned Florida State Champions. Andrew in Word 2019 and Conner in Excel. Brian Velazquez won a state championship for PowerPoint in December.

“We are definitely making our mark in history at these Microsoft competitions” said Dunbar High School Principal Carl Burnside. “We have the winning formula for success. Provide students with advanced STEM curriculum paired with high level competitions and that just motivates our students to want to be the top performers in the country.”

Andrew is making his third trip to the Microsoft Office Specialist U.S. National Championship. He won the state, national and world title in Excel two years ago, and last year finished second in the world in PowerPoint after winning the state and national title.

"This is my final run at this pretty amazing competition,” Andrew says. “I hope to perform as well as I have in the past, but this is a new year, in a new office application. Whatever the outcome, I know it'll be a lot of fun, and I have a lot of promising compatriots to root for!"

The 2023 Microsoft Office Specialist U.S. National Championship is June 26 to 28 in Orlando. State champions will be tested in a proctored lab in their respective exam tracks. Each first-place winner in each category will receive a $4,000 scholarship, trophy, certificate, and an all-expenses-paid invitation to compete at the 2023 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship.

“I didn't really expect to get here but it was all thanks to the guidance and support of my teachers,” Conner said. “Thank you, Dunbar."

Dunbar High School has the rare distinction of producing 32 Certiport Microsoft Office Specialist Florida State Champions, seven national champions and three world champions.

A fourth Dunbar student, Ann Gracy, is representing Florida at the 2023 Adobe Certified Professional U.S. National Championship.

To be selected for this competition, Ann had to be Adobe Certified and submit an original design project in either Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and/or InDesign. The candidates with the best projects from around the country were chosen to compete.

"I was so surprised but mainly excited to find out I qualified,” Ann said. “I can't wait to meet the other competitors and represent Dunbar!"

The 2023 Adobe Certified Professional U.S. National Championship is also in Orlando from June 26 to the 28. Competitors will have eight hours to create a design project.

The top three competitors at the U.S. National Championship will receive a scholarship, certificate of achievement, and an all-expenses-paid invitation to compete at Certiport’s Adobe Certified Professional World Championship.

You can learn more about the Adobe Certified Professional U.S. National Championship at https://acpchampionship.certiport.com/us and more about the Microsoft Office Specialist U.S. National Championship at https://us.moschampionship.com.

WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.
Tags
Education WGCU NewsDunbar High SchoolInformation TechnologyTechnology
WGCU Staff
See stories by WGCU Staff
Trusted by over 30,000 local subscribers

Local News, Right Sized for Your Morning

Quick briefs when you are busy, deeper explainers when it matters, delivered early morning and curated by WGCU editors.

  • Environment
  • Local politics
  • Health
  • And more

Free and local. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

More from WGCU
  • Environment
    Gray Catbirds – “Skulkers” and Hunters in Dense Vegetation
    Dr. Jerry Jackson
    Gray Catbirds are in a bird family known as the “Mimidae” – because they mimic other birds, other animals, and even mechanical sounds. Other members of their family in Florida include the Brown Thrasher and the Northern Mockingbird – two excellent mimics that we often see and hear year-round as they feed, sing, and nest in relatively open vegetation. They often mimic the vocalizations of other bird species and it has been suggested that their mimicry may send the message that the area is crowded – and cause other birds to search for food elsewhere.
  • A Lee County School District plan to capture video evidence of drivers illegally passing stopped school buses goes into affect in December. The program is offered by Bus Patrol. In addition to stop-arm cameras, BusPatrol will install and implement sideload, interior and rearview cameras, as well as DVR, GPS, Telemetry and Cellular Connectivity technology. Ticket processing and program management will be handled by BusPatrol, all at no cost to the community.
    Top Story
    Red Lights, Green Cash: How a Florida legislator boosted school bus cameras and benefited her family
    Nandhini Srinivasan/The Tributary
    Personal connections, aggressive lobbying and hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions fueled the rapid rise of an obscure school bus camera vendor, BusPatrol, which quickly became a major player in a niche industry that didn’t exist in Florida until last year. That success represented a remarkable turnaround for a company with a troubled history of allegations that it values revenue over public safety and opportunity over ethics. BusPatrol’s reversal in fortunes, already evident in other states, echoes the comeback of Florida state Rep. Vicki Lopez, once a down-and-out Lee County commissioner, with whom BusPatrol is inextricably linked.
  • Government & Politics
    Delays, cancellations up at Florida airports as FAA orders flight cuts and federal shutdown continues
    WGCU Staff
    There were 96 flight delays and nine cancellations Saturday and at least 134 flight delays and 15 flight cancellations as of early Sunday evening at Southwest Florida International Airport. The numbers come from the MiseryMap, a listing of delays and cancellations at U.S. airports by FlightAware, a flight tracking service.