Samuel Latham, a Madison Academic High School sophomore, competed with over 7,500 students from across the state of Tennessee in the Microsoft Powerpoint championship, where he ultimately brought home first place for the Jackson Madison County School System.

Latham had both the highest score and the quickest time in the state, giving him the opportunity to represent Tennessee at the national competition in Orlando, Florida June 26-28. 

At the national competition, he will have the opportunity to win up to $3,000 and an all-expense paid trip to the World Microsoft Office Championship. 

Latham was first introduced to the competition in his computer technology class. This course focused on typing skills, basic computer skills and the Microsoft Office Suite. By the end of the class, Latham had earned certifications in Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook. 

Since he was already involved in the course work, Latham decided to take his knowledge to the next level and work towards having a perfect score and the fastest time during his Microsoft Office exams. 

In January, the Latham family got the news that Samuel had won the state powerpoint competition. 

“I was pretty surprised,” said Latham. “I am proud to be representing Tennessee in Orlando and hopefully I can show out and win.”

For Mr. Gary Carroll, the computer applications teacher at Madison Academic High School, having a state champion in this competition is nothing new. 

“Over the last seven years, we have had around 11 or 12 state champions in this competition,” said Carroll. “It’s an extensive course. It is timed and stressful, there are a lot of things to do in a short period of time.”

The competition consists of students from all 50 states competing for the most accuracy and the quickest time. Each competitor will sit at a computer and have 50 minutes to complete roughly 40 tasks. Accuracy will be checked, and then for any ties they will look at the time it took each student to complete the tasks.