Spring Hill student interns with schools
Source: MIKE CHRISTEN
For the technology department at Maury County Public Schools, summer is the busiest time of year. With students and teachers out of the classroom, the school district’s 10 information technology professionals make sure every computer, tablet and Prometheon board is updated and running at top condition for the first day of school.
“Don’t ask me how many computers we have,” Tech Support Manager Dave Reynolds said as he and his staff were hard at work last week updating the more than 30 operating systems at Highland Park Elementary.
But this summer, Reynolds and his department of 10 have an extra team member to help them at crunch time.
Spring Hill High School sophomore Mitch Mitchell is interning with the department this summer, assisting team members with the major update and providing additional help fixing any other problems they might find along the way.
The 16-year-old with a passion for computers and their systems began his internship last week.
“I have been thinking about going the tech route since probably the 8th grade,” Mitchell said as he plugged a computer into a power socket. “It’s not really a particular thing, I just like the whole field in general. From security, software, hardware, I really like all that stuff. Then I learned about Mr. Cook’s classes and it just went from there.”
Brent Cook teaches computer science at Spring Hill High School. His courses include cabling, networking and A+ computer programing.
Last year, Mitchell took Cook’s class in programming and he plans to take both cabling and networking in the fall.
To help the district’s technology department, Cook and his students will also make repairs, responding to technology problems filed by educators and administrators.
The efforts of Cook and students like Mitchell help the department concentrate on other schools in the district who need more assistance during the school year.
The department reviews an average of up to 50 tickets during an average school day, Reynolds said.
Participating in the internship, Mitchell joins a seemingly self-established tradition in Maury County Public Schools, with all but one of the technology department’s student interns coming from Cook’s classroom over the past seven years.
The mutually beneficial relationship has proven to be successful, Reynolds said.
“In addition to having the extra manpower for us, it lets him dig down and see what we do in the real world,” Reynolds said. “We don’t just sit at our desks and take in calls. We are actually hands-on, and that is what we are trying to provide for him.”
Mitchell’s service will count toward the school district’s final community-developed goal for Maury County students in the Seven Keys to College and Career Readiness.
The objective of Key Seven is to have all students graduate with participation in either advanced placement courses, dual enrollment, industry certification, work-based learning or military preparation by graduation.
“Our main thing is to go along with the Keys to provide a hands-on approach so they know what they might be doing in the future,” Reynolds said.
Maury County Schools Communications Specialist &Grants Coordinator Kim Doddridge said Mitchell’s internship serves as an example of programs offered within the school district that have been highlighted by the recent systematic recording of performance and goals established by the efforts of Director of Schools Dr. Chris Marczak.
“Now that the Keys are formulated and really articulated, we can see that all along we have been doing things that make sense and were right for our kids,” Doddridge said. “We have been investing in our kids, but it was not as in sync with everything as it is now.”
| }
|