Walla Walla High School teacher receives "Outstanding Achievement" award

Walla Walla High School teacher receives "Outstanding Achievement" award

Monday, August 6, Walla Walla High School Career and Technical Education teacher Gay Buissink received the Outstanding Achievement "Game Changer" award at the Washington Association for Career and Technical Education Summer Conference in Yakima. Buissink was one of only three state educators to receive the award.

Buissink and her students participated in the Microsoft IT Academy (ITA). The Microsoft ITA is designed to bridge the gap between the world of education and the world of work. It boosts Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education statewide and the employability and global competitiveness of students and future workforce.

The Microsoft IT Academy program provides training and certification in a number of Microsoft products, as well as advanced topics, including programming, Web development, and database development.

Buissink helped her students successfully pass Microsoft Office Specialist Certification exams. A Microsoft Office Specialist certification helps validate proficiency in using Microsoft Office 2010 and meets the demand for the most up-to-date skills on some of the latest Microsoft technologies.

"Offering Microsoft certification for students started out as a way to validate the technology skills that students were learning in my Computer Apps classes," Buissink said. "As the year progressed, I became motivated by the sense of accomplishment that a student's face beamed over to me when the screen popped up at the end of a grueling exam, and the word "pass" was displayed. Next CCI Learning, one of the partners in this venture with Microsoft and OSPI, advertised a $1,000 scholarship for a student, and the game really changed."

Buissink said she was surprised and honored by the Microsoft award.

"It really isn't about me," Buissink said. "This is about students who are accomplishing something as big as an internationally recognized certification, which translates into technology readiness for college and careers. I just wish that more students would take advantage of this opportunity."