Pictured are Marysville High School students, who are a part of the school’s help desk course, working to repair a desktop computer. The course is designed to teach students how to fix electronics around the school and troubleshoot problems with faulty equipment. Their teacher, Linda Gordon, said she’s seen a new air of confidence in the students after taking the class and they’ve been motivated to help others around the school. Pictured above are, from left to right, Yeison Cruz, Tyler Yates, Gabe Rangle, Julian Dripps, Tyler Richardson and Daniel Snodgrass.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Jacob Runnels)
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Students at Marysville High School (MHS) each have their own computers, but a handful of the teens also know how to fix them.
Through a new technology help desk course known as “Pit Tech,” MHS students learn to make light repairs on technology that’s given to them. They mostly work on Chromebooks, but also troubleshoot faulty equipment in classrooms and restore old desktop computers.
The students taking the class said they are inspired to help out the school as much as they can.
“We wanted to create this as an ease of access for teachers and students at high school,” help desk student Tyler Richardson said. “It’s a great class and it’s an opportunity for students to learn more about computers.”
Richardson is one of many students who took the class to improve his technology troubleshooting skills. He said usually the help desk crew members work on fixing the interchangeable parts of a Chromebook and often fill in for the technical aide staff at the school.
Students who sign up for the elective course can come in with any level of experience.
Teacher Linda Gordon said ever since she started the class at the beginning of the year, she’s seen her students carry a new air of confidence. She said her students are now more vocal about helping people with their newfound technology repair skills.
“They’re opening up because they have more confidence in themselves and with the technology,” Gordon said. “They’re very excited to learn and they love coming to class. They know it’s a place to play yet learn at the same time. It’s our best environment.”
Gordon said she partnered with another teacher from the business department last year to formulate the idea for the class. She previously worked as a computer programming instructor, which helped inspire her to create the class.
She said the class started as a one-semester course and she saw students return to take it. She said those returning will learn more than just repairing Chromebooks and will learn skills based on what “our district needs or what our economy or industry is looking for.”
Gordon said she’s seen a great amount of success achieved by the students. Some of her students recently took a CompTIA certification course, which gave them additional experience in the field of IT.
She said she underestimated the ability of her students to excel in the course, mainly because she didn’t have any other schools to compare them with.
“I didn’t want to put something on them that was going to stress them out and then not see any success with it,” she said. “But I’ve seen so much success with them, just being here half a year.”
Gordon said the course will grow in the future.
She said if more students and staff are seeing the Tech Pit at work, more will want to participate in the program. She said, because children today are surrounded by technology, it’s best to equip them with that repair knowledge.