RCS rising senior earns six professional certifications at Capital Region BOCES

A Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk teenager has earned six professional Adobe certifications at Capital Region BOCES – and he only recently completed his junior year of high school!

“I am very interested in becoming as good of a graphic designer as I possibly can. I am very passionate about it,” Evan Agan said after recently earning his fifth and sixth certifications in the Digital Media Design program at the Career & Technical Education Center – Albany Campus.

Adobe certification signifies an expertise that colleges often award credits for and is used on resumes to get jobs.

At 17, Agan’s resume is pretty impressive with the following Adobe Certified Professional certifications: Video Design, Visual Design, Digital Video using Adobe Premiere Pro, Graphic Design & Illustration using Adobe Illustrator, Print & Digital Media Publication Using Adobe InDesign and Visual Design using Adobe Photoshop.

“Evan has repeatedly demonstrated professional-level skills and expertise to earn these certifications,” said teacher Barb Gorbaty.

Students are expected to complete this technical assessment for an Adobe certification by the end of the two-year program. By achieving so many certifications before the end of their first year, Evan has given himself the opportunity to work towards numerous other certifications next year, she added.

Students in the two-year Digital Media Design program learn professional skills in industry standard software while developing a working knowledge of design theory and practice. They also engage in the same project planning and execution processes that are consistent with industry practice and demonstrated their technical abilities through the Adobe Certified Expert program.

Agan aspires to launch a career in graphic design after college.

“I would like to get an internship at a graphic design company and build my skills and also go to college,” he said.

“I like designing things and being able to bring those designs out of my mind and into an artistic format. This is clearly the career for me,” he added.