by Jen Myers

Tucked away in a corner of Lowell High School’s McDonough Freshman Academy on a recent blisteringly hot late July day, a fan whirled as six LHS students, obscured behind walls of busted Chromebooks, fixed cracked screens, stuck keyboards, and units that just refused to power up.

While technology has made teaching and learning more efficient and opened up a whole new world of curriculum possibilities, virtual fields trips, and more – it also poses a labor-intensive problem – fixing all of those broken Chromebooks.

This spring, Lowell Public Schools IT (Information Technology) Department Director Greg Limperis was looking for a solution to take some of the burden off the shoulders of his techs, who have variety of other projects to work on. He knew that Burlington High School used students as techs and kicked the idea around about doing it in Lowell.

“It is something that just makes sense and is a way to take care of some of the backlog while also providing great work experience for students,” Limperis said. “I am really happy we were able to make this happen.”

Osaym Omar, a student at Northern Essex Community College studying Computer Science, who is also a part-time tech for the LPS IT Department, was happy to oversee the new workforce and provide any training they needed to get up to speed.

Limperis pitched the idea to Project Learn Executive Director LZ Nunn and the organization jumped on board to sponsor a pilot program that providing funding to pay six students to work 12 hours a week, repairing hundreds of computers.

“It’s been a fabulous opportunity for Lowell High students to have the chance to solve technical issues and repair computers, tablets, printers, and learn how to trouble shoot in real time,” said Nunn. “Each of these young people gained hands- on tech skills that they can apply to their future education and career pursuits. These kinds of partnerships deliver real-world value to students and families, while also supporting the team at LPS.”