EV Gets A Good Tip On Computer Expertise

Craig Cotter spent Thursday afternoon connecting cables.

He snaked orange, purple and green wires behind a line of eight computers in an East Valley High School classroom.

“I’m getting a light on line three,” Cotter’s co-worker, Nate Shearer, announced as they linked the third computer to the Internet. Building and servicing a computer network requires technical acumen. It calls for a patient person with state-of-the-art knowledge.

So who would best fill the job? To officials in the East Valley School District, their own high school students fit the bill.

Cotter and Shearer are two of five students on the EV tech support team who were hired by the district to service the school district’s computer networks this summer.

The students are updating software, scanning computers for viruses, and installing new machines. All five are graduates of the high school’s advanced Technology in Practice (TIP) class and four worked for the district during the school year.

“Why not give them the work experience while they’re still in high school?” said Jerry Etchison, technology coordinator for the district. “It’s a win-win situation because we wouldn’t be able to afford to hire employees with their knowledge.” Though the district gets the technical help at the cut rate of about $7 per hour, the students benefit from the resume boost.

Matt Wear, a 1998 EV graduate and former tech team member, now works as a tech specialist for Inland Northwest Health Services making a salary of close to $50,000 a year.

East Valley began the TIP program in 1993 to teach students skills needed in the workplace. The kids learn how computers work, how to refurbish them and how to troubleshoot hardware and software problems.

Advanced students who work for the district during the year float among the elementary schools to answer teacher’s questions. Others learn to use the latest Web design and animation software.

Last year, about 50 students were enrolled in two TIP classes.

“I took the TIP class to work on hardware,” said Roseanna Rey, a sophomore at EV High School. “It was the one thing I was still afraid of - taking off the cover and frying RAM.”

Rey was a quick study, and she moved on to master web design software. She was hired as the district’s Webmaster during the year and stayed on for the summer.

“I would much rather be working on computers than flipping burgers,” she said.

Later in the summer, the TIP kids may get the chance to show off their knowledge at a technology fair at the Spokane Valley Mall.

The district is setting up the show-and-tell to help parents understand how technology is integrated into elementary, middle, and high school curriculum.

Teachers and students will be on hand to demonstrate curriculum components to parents.

“We want parents to see how education is changing,” said Judi Christiansen, school district spokeswoman.

The fair is tentatively set for August 26.

In the meantime, the students will move diligently from one school to another to clean up the district’s 500 computers.

Cotter estimates it takes 45 minutes to “wipe and scan” each machine. He and the other TIP students remove all random software programs that other students downloaded over the year, then they run Norton Utilities to ensure the computer is virus free.

Though time consuming, the process is nothing compared to the five days the TIP students spent writing a computer program last October for the Washington Association of Student Councils Conference that took place in the Valley.

“It’s interesting to walk down the halls at 9 p.m. in your socks,” said Shearer.

“Yeah, after you’ve been in a small room for five hours,” Rey added.

Clearly they’re prepared to work in the 21st century.