February 08, 2021

FHHS Student Scores Platinum on the ACT Workkeys Exam

Forest Hills High School Senior, William Lilly, earned a Platinum score for his National ACT Workkeys Exam! Less than 1% nationwide of high school seniors taking the exam achieves Platinum.

Workkeys measures foundational skills required for success in the workplace. Seniors qualify to take the Workkeys exam by successfully completing (or being currently enrolled in) a Level II Career and Technical Education (CTE) course. Lilly is currently taking Agri Mechanics II. The skills learned from all of his CTE classes were measured across three different exams: Applied Mathematics, Graphic Literacy, and Workplace Documents. An average score was obtained upon the completion of his testing session.

  • The Applied Math assessment measures critical thinking, mathematical reasoning, and problem solving techniques for situations that actually occur in today’s workplace.
  • The Graphic Literacy assessment measures the skill needed to locate, synthesize, and use information from items like charts and graphs, to diagrams and floor plans.
  • The Workplace Documents assessment measures the skills people use when they read and use written text such as memos, letters, directions, signs, notices, bulletins, policies, and regulations on the job.

Scores are awarded at four levels-Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. These tiers are used by thousands of employers. Platinum indicates the skills required for approximately 99% of profiled jobs. Gold indicates the skills required for at least 93% of profiled jobs. Silver indicates the skills required for at least 69% of profiled jobs. Bronze indicates the skills required for at least 17% of profiled jobs

Lilly will be able to add his Platinum score to resumes or job applications to show employers that he has the skills needed for the job. He can also submit his score for college applications, or compare his score to those needed in a national data base of over 20,000 jobs!

Forest Hills High School Automotive teacher, William Books, said “He is very smart and a good worker and can think critically to diagnose problems.” Drafting and Robotics teacher Patrick Ollis added, “He is a conscientious, hard-working student that puts forth his best effort into completing assignments.”

Lilly admits that he had experienced somewhat of a personal setback academically once before, but that he’s now determined that he wants to pursue something in the medical field while serving in the Armed Forces upon graduation. He is currently talking with Marine and Air Force recruiters. His Health Science teacher, Pam Lanier, said, “He’s smart. He can do anything he sets his mind to.”