By Claire Luo

In mid-April, CareerConnect hosted an Excel Workshop with Dean Lizardo, one of Harker’s statistics and economics teachers, who is well-versed in data analytical functions. During the lunch workshop, he discussed useful features of Excel and gave valuable tips to the students. Using sample problems and powerful formulas on spreadsheets, Lizardo showed attendees how to quickly and easily analyze information as well as create effective visuals.

During the workshop, students got to follow along on their own computers and practice what they learned on a provided spreadsheet. Throughout his presentation, Lizardo challenged students to use specific worksheet formulas to solve problems involving data analysis. As a result, students were able to apply the knowledge from the workshop and engage in interactive activities in order to develop their Excel skills further.

In addition, Lizardo explained to the students the advantages of using Excel and the real world applications, especially when presenting information to others. For example, he showed different types of graphs and gave tips and tricks to make efficient and attractive visuals for various purposes.  

Students found the workshop to be very practical and helpful. “[The information] is really useful in analyzing data,” said Kevin Wang, grade 9. “It has good real-life applications, so I learned a lot from the workshop.”