New Triway course turns students into tech support
Triway High School GenYES students Hailey Massaro, left, Haylie Pruitt and Anna Puster help prepare student lunch cards to distribute to the district’s four schools. The cards contain a bar code that students can use as a contactless way to buy lunch.
Fifteen Triway High School students are becoming technology leaders for their school, thanks to a new course called GenYES.
Offered several periods throughout the day, the course prepares the students to jump into action when the calls for assistance come in.
“We’re like a bunch of IT support people,” Triway sophomore Kade Whitman explained.
The student technology leaders were selected for the class based on their leadership skills and technology experience.
“They are fixing and solving issues that normally the school’s technology department would handle,” GenYES instructor Justin McDowell said.
With every student in the school assigned a Chromebook including students doing remote learning at home, the STLs are in demand.
“These are issues that would really overwhelm our tech department if we didn’t have these kids on board,” said Kara Shutler, technology integration specialist for kindergarten through 12th grade at Triway.
One of the first tasks assigned to the STLs was to organize about 1,500 bar-code cards that were ordered for Triway students to scan when they go through the lunch line. The cards are a contactless way for the students to buy their lunch, which right now is important, McDowell said.
The GenYES classes added each student’s school name and graduation year to the cards so they can be delivered to the four different schools in the district.
Other jobs for the STLs also have included troubleshooting internet connection problems, fixing broken Chromebook parts, and diagnosing and fixing problems with teachers’ computers.
Sophomore Ruben Briggs earned the title of “Mr. Fix It” after he repaired two computer webcams and four computer screens.
“Some of it’s trial and error,” McDowell said. “The best way to learn is by doing, and this is what this class does quite often.”
Senior Anna Puster played a role in helping teachers learn to use a digital classroom application that can make their documents interactive with their students.
“Lots of teachers were trying to figure out how to use the program,” Puster said, so she and some other STLs created a computer slide show to teach them.
For each job they’re assigned, the students create a technology assistance project that serves as a way to collect data on the projects being completed. Students report what they did and what skills they learned. Each TAP a student completes is added to a portfolio that can be shared with employers and college admissions staff.
Originally called Generation YES (Youth and Educators Succeeding), the program started on the West Coast about 20 years ago, Shutler said. Only 18 school districts in Ohio have implemented it, and Triway is the only one offering it locally.
Serving as a model for Triway’s program was the GenYES program at Lake Local Schools in Uniontown. “(Staff at the school) opened their doors to us and allowed us to shadow students,” Shutler said. “They were a huge help in getting things up and running. GenYES is new and fresh, and we’re excited to be a part of the trial run in the area.”
It’s one of the ways the school is emphasizing technology in its curriculum.
Junior Hayle Pruitt said she likes her role as an STL because it’s making a difference. “It helps make the teachers’ jobs easier,” she said, “since this year is difficult.”