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Justin Perry will be going to Atlanta to copete in a national Microsoft Office competition.

McCann Junior To Compete Nationally in Office Competition

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — McCann Junior Justin Perry will compete in the Microsoft Office Specialist National Competition in Atlanta, Ga. this summer.
 
Perry, a business tech student, will represent Massachusetts in June and compete against the best from each state in Microsoft Word.
 
"I am looking forward to the competition," he said. "I have ever been to Atlanta before and I have never been on a plane either."
 
Perry is going to Atlanta because he scored so highly on his Microsoft Office Certification Exam in November. Perry scored  982 out of 1,000.
 
"It is a pretty basic exam; everyone in my grade takes them. We get a little project we have to do and we just have to go through every step," he said. "We have to make flyers, reports and change different aspects of it to make it look the way we want."
 
Perry said the competition isn’t your typical competition and you are less trying to edge out your opponents but rather focus on scoring as highly as you can.
 
Even then, Perry said the pressure was on.
 
"The pressure was on a little bit because there was a lot of stuff to do," he said. "There are 26 different tasks and there are subparts to each one."
 
Perry noted that the national competition will be different than the 45-minute state qualifier and competitors will have to test their mettle for seven hours. 
 
Perry attributes his success to his dedication and work outside of class hours. 
 
"Throughout the past couple of years in my shop, we have done different lessons…and we do projects at the end of each lesson," he said.
 
"I worked really hard and I stayed after school to get more help and I trained at home to work on it and I use a lot in academics."
 
If Perry scores highly again he will compete in the world competition to be held in Orlando, Fla.
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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime. 
 
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather. 
 
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5
 
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
 
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure. 
 
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
 
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
 
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