Bethlehem High School junior Nikolas Freihofer is blazing new trails in the Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical School Digital Media Design program. He is now the first to earn the Adobe Certified Professional Designation, which was previously known as the Adobe Certified Specialist.

Nikolas earned the certification after completing both the Adobe Graphic Design & Illustration using Adobe Illustrator and the Visual Design using Adobe Photoshop certifications.

“The professional designation underscores that these are professional certifications and that those who earn them have shown they understand the programs at a professional level,” said teacher Barb Gorbaty.

Earning an Adobe certification signifies a level of expertise and professionalism that employers seek. “Adobe certification signifies an expertise that colleges often award credits for and is used on resumes to get jobs,” Gorbaty said. To earn the Adobe certification a person must demonstrate professional-level skills and expertise

She added that “this year is certainly a challenge because we upgraded our edition of Adobe. Nick is the first person to take the exam and pass it.”

“It’s pretty cool to have a professional designation while still in high school,” Freihofer said.

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.