Thomas County Schools and Google linked this academic year to pilot a program offering Google Student Certification to Thomas County Central High School business pupils.

Of the students able to test, 16 passed and earned their certification: Angel Witherspoon, Breanna Watson, Courtney Davis, Jack Cantrell, Sonia Muniz, Arwen Hancock, Edward Coleman, Heather Smith, Autumn Tew, Wesley Rivera, Jayleen Williams, Caylin Davis, Emily Glass, Emma Funderburk, Alexandra Speigner and Blake Yates.

“It means a lot to me and shows I can complete tasks I feel a little nervous about,” student Jack Cantrell said of his certification. “I’m glad I have all the tools of the Google apps unlocked for future use.”

Immediately following Google announcing its partnership with Proctor U to begin student certification testing last summer, TCCHS business teacher Mindy Pierce and Thomas County Schools Digital Learning and Media Services Coordinator Erin Rehberg shared interest in offering the program to system students.

“I was very excited that Erin Rehberg and TCCHS supported the idea of working with Google to pilot this program,” Mindy Pierce said. “Traditionally, we have used Microsoft and Adobe applications in our business courses, and we will continue to, but since we are a Google school, students also use G Suite applications often. It is always beneficial to expose students to more business applications; this is just another one we can add. We want to prepare our students as much as possible for careers after high school. There will always be new computer applications developed.”

Pierce contacted the Georgia Department of Education about incorporating the test into her business class curriculum. The result is a collaboration between Google and Thomas County Schools to pilot the student certification program in TCCHS Intro to Business classes. The test prompts students to demonstrate mastery of G Suite applications they can use to show prospective employers and colleges their fluency in digital collaboration tools.

“Our goal is to make students adaptable, able to move from application to application,” Pierce said. “G Suite tools tested on are Docs, Sheets, Gmail, Google Drive and Google Hangouts.”

Senior Breanna Watson, 18, said her interest stemmed from how useful the certification would be on future job applications.

“It will be going on all job applications as long as I stay certified,” Watson said of her achievement. “Some companies prefer to use Microsoft programs, but Google programs have a lot of similarities to Microsoft…. I'll be able to adapt quicker than someone who has never seen a Google or Microsoft program, making me a more eligible candidate than someone else competing for a job position.”

TCCHS Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education Director Beth Adams said the test fits well with the school’s business pathway.

“As a part of the Business Industry Certification process, students have the opportunity to earn technical certifications,” she said. “Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certifications are usually used for the certification process, but we opted to pilot a program with Google since we are a Google system. Many businesses are also using G Suite programs, so it is a good way to show future employers that our students are prepared to engage with this type of technology.”

Cantrell jumped at the chance to earn this certification.

“I’d never heard of it before, and I thought it’d be interesting to learn more tips and tricks I can use while using Google apps,” he said. “There was a fair amount of lessons to go through to be ready for the exam. The actual exam was a little easier than I imagined.”

Both Cantrell and Watson say the most challenging aspect of preparing for the certification test was learning to use Google Sheets.

“There was math involved, which isn’t my strong suit and made it quite difficult,” Cantrell said.

Watson was unfamiliar with the application.

“I have never had an instance in which I needed Google Sheets, but I'm sure what I learned from the program will be helpful at some point in my life,” she said.

The system received 100 free tests. For a first attempt, Adams believes TCCHS students did a great job.  Although it will continue using the MOS PowerPoint certification for End-of-Pathway Assessments to ensure students gain exposure to a variety of software programs, the school plans to improve preparation and test more pupils.

“Since this was a pilot program, there were some technical issues that we had to work through,” Adams said. “We did plan to test additional students, but the school closure limited the amount of time we had to get additional tests completed. It is definitely something we will look to continue in the future.”

Pierce is happy with the percentage of students who passed the pilot program and believes more will earn future certification.

“We feel we will have even more pass in the future since we learned how to prepare them from this experience better,” Pierce said. “Google will use data gathered from our experience to improve the testing procedures in the future as well.”

The system hopes to increase its number of students completing Google certification, adds Erin Rehberg.

“We look forward to growing our preparation and training for our students,” she said. “We would like to include some of the preparation lessons even at the middle school level.”

Watson says Google certification is a valuable tool for all students, no matter their future life path.

“I think this should be an option for all kids in all schools,” she said. “High school exists to prepare students for the real world, whether they go to college, get a job, study abroad, etc., and I think this is a valuable skill to have regardless of the path a student goes down.”

But students are not the only system members benefitting from Google certification. Thomas County Schools encourages its faculty and staff to earn Google educator certificates. Currently, it has 81 Level 1 certified teachers, 12 Level 2 certified teachers and two certified trainers.

“These educators have worked hard to complete professional learning and be successful on the Google Certified Educator exams, which are three-hour tests that ask the teachers to show competency using Google for Education tools,” Rehberg said. “It has been nice to know that during this time of school closure and distance learning, we have so many teachers prepared for using online tools to deliver instruction.”

Adams appreciates teachers’ efforts to infuse technology within their lessons in meaningful and productive ways.

“Teachers who are willing to earn a Google certification to support the use of instructional technology demonstrate a commitment to our students and our system,” she said.

Currently, 29 of these certified educators work at TCCHS, including Pierce, who is a certified trainer.

“Thomas County Schools is so innovative and always at the forefront of technology,” Pierce said. “I'm so proud to be a part of it.”