Avondale College students compete in Microsoft world champs

<h3>Three students from Avondale College&comma; Auckland&comma; are this week competing in the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championships in Orlando&comma; Florida&period; The global competition tests the Microsoft Office skills of students from more than 130 countries&period;<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>The group from Avondale won places to attend the world championships after they topped the New Zealand national competition&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Paul McClean&comma; director of the college&&num;8217&semi;s innovation programme&comma; says this is the third time the school has sent representatives to the competition&period; &&num;8220&semi;This is the third year in a row that all of the New Zealand competitors are from Avondale College&comma;&&num;8221&semi; he says&period; &&num;8220&semi;Two of the students are competing in the worlds for the second year running&comma; and one student for his third year running&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At last year&&num;8217&semi;s championships&comma; students from Avondale won top places by solving problems using Microsoft Office applications&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;This is particularly impressive because the global competition is usually dominated by universities and tertiary training organisations who live and breathe the Microsoft courses&comma;&&num;8221&semi; says Mr McClean&period; &&num;8220&semi;The students from Avondale&comma; however&comma; have never sat the course&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Instead&comma; they are involved in the school&&num;8217&semi;s innovation programme which sees them gain industry-recognised ICT qualifications while working on real world learning projects&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;The Microsoft competition is just something that happens along the way&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;