Corpus Christi ISD saw two challenges: a growing supply of Chromebooks in need of repairs and maintenance and a need to support students interested in careers in technology.
On Wednesday, the district unveiled the solution — the new Student Technology Service Center, located at the district’s instructional resource center.
The program offers high school students work experience in technology repair.
The district has more than 45,000 Chromebooks, said Karen Griffith, deputy superintendent of business and support services, during a Wednesday event.
Previously, the district sent broken Chromebooks to outside vendors for repairs, a process that at times took up to nine weeks.
In response, the district started an internal repair program to get devices back into the hands of students faster.
For the past six weeks, three CCISD high school students have pitched in to help with the repairs through a work-based learning course.
The students are part-time district employees and get paid to work about 20 hours a week.
“What better way to learn than hands-on?” Griffith said. “It’s a win-win for all of us.”
Already, they’ve fixed more than 700 Chromebooks.
On Wednesday, Branch Academy for Career and Technical Education sophomore Zachary Tarske, Collegiate High School senior Alec Babcock and Veterans Memorial High School sophomore Shelby Guerrero set up for work, cracking open Chromebooks to replace broken parts.
Sometimes they have a clear idea of the problem, Tarske said. Other times it takes a bit of troubleshooting.
Tarske said he discovered a love for technology last year after the pandemic. He hopes to go into computer science and believes the work-based learning opportunity repairing devices is valuable.
“I’m learning from this job,” Tarske said.
Next year, six students will participate with plans to expand the program in future years. Students in the program of study will also have the opportunity to earn an industry credential.
As the program expands, the district hopes to in the future offer tech support services to district families as well.
The program offers an employment pipeline, technology standards coordinator Baldemar Gonzales said.
“We’re putting a pipeline together to have future technicians ready for employment within the district, within the community, in a high-demand field,” Gonzales said.
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