WildTech Learning

WildTech Learning

by Eric Christianson

The residents of North Pend Oreille County have reason to be very proud of the technology students at Selkirk High School. Selkirk Technology students have been working closely this year as one of the 57 school districts associated with the Wilderness Technology Alliance, which partnership has offered unparalleled opportunities to the Selkirk students. Of the 57 schools involved in the program, 16 schools will be allowed to send 4 students each to a free week long technology training this summer on Mt. Rainier. Of those 16 lucky schools, one school has been given the honor to send an additional crew of Tech students to help facilitate that technology camp: Of the 57 schools involved, Selkirk earned the honor! What have the students been doing to earn this honor?
Computer classes. The students are teaching a night class one day a week for the local community. We offer the full gambit of computer instruction, covering everything from hardware, setup, office, webpage design, or any other aspect of computer that any of the students know. The class has been well attended and has proven to be an excellent fundraiser for the Tech Club. Further, there has been such terrific feedback from the adults attending regarding how well the students perform in conducting the course that, regardless of it's huge financial impact for the club, is a terrific school/community event that fosters a better appreciation of the students and their skills.
Networking. The students completely rewired the Jr./Sr. High School complex to accommodate a new computer network system installed this year. This project included running the new wires, disposing of the old system, installing RJ-45 ends, and making the entire system compatible with the new fiber optic cable and new switches, hubs, and servers. Rumor has it that a few students even tried their hand at fusion-splicing the fiber optic cable. While the Ione Primary and Lillian Bailey schools had the wiring professionally installed, the Selkirk students installed the network and brought the machines online in all three schools in the district. One can only imagine how many thousands of dollars the students saved the taxpayers with their ambitious program of volunteerism.
Webpages. The students are beginning to pursue a webpage design service for the local community. The club intends to create webpages at free or reduced cost if they have a strong community interest, or intend to charge slightly under market for other web pages. The students have been working with Macromedia software and now have such expertise that they feel comfortable taking it to the community and showing off their creations. For this purpose, Macromedia has donated thousands of dollars of software to the district (thank you Macromedia!). We have freshmen students making hundreds of dollars in their spare time producing webpages at home, which sure beats mowing lawns for spending money.
Refurbishing. When businesses upgrade their computer systems, the WTA acts as a vehicle to distribute their old computer equipment to school districts. So far this year, the WTA has provided approximately 70 Pentium based computers to Selkirk, which the technology students have refurbished and placed into service throughout the school district. Now, the students are hoping to begin placing refurbished systems to low income families in the community at ridiculously low prices.
Troubleshooting. The students provide computer repair and troubleshooting services throughout the district to keep the current computers running. This volunteer service relieves the district of having to pay a computer technician. The students also typically make themselves available to assist members of the community who call with computer issues, providing a valuable community service.
Student-teaching-student. The Selkirk model is based on students passing on their knowledge to the next generation of students. In April, we will begin a Junior High Technology class to bring these skills to the next level of students. A group of approximately 5 high school Techies will basically teach the junior high class, under the supervision of a teacher. The goal of the class will be to teach the junior high students how to refurbish computers, many of which computers may then be sold to the community. Under this model, everybody wins!
Certifications. Selkirk has up to 10 students, primarily freshmen and sophomore, who hope to sit for the A+ Certification examination this spring. The A+ Certification is basically a "computer technician" certification, with which the students could start right out of high school at approximately $35,000 per year. Additionally, three tech students are taking the beginning courses for the Cisco Certification through Riverside High School through teleconferencing equipment. With the Cisco Certification, people are currently starting at approximately $60,000 per year. Obviously, the hard work these students are putting in should pay off in the future.
Rock Climbing. While it might seem unrelated, these same students comprise the majority of students who have developed the Selkirk Outdoor Club. This combination of outdoor education and technology is what the WTA was founded on, and Selkirk is not only the state model for the technology portion of the program, but Selkirk is basically writing the book for the outdoor programs for the other districts. In early March these students traveled to Spokane to give rock-climbing lessons to a group of students from Rogers High School. It was beautiful to see the level of professionalism shown by such a young group of students as they safely taught inner-city youth how to trust and support each other.
Those are the projects currently under way and of which the community should be proud. These projects are primarily student driven and student maintained, following the extremely successful principle of students-teaching-students. The most effective method of teaching these students has been to merely get out of the way and quit trying to impede the students by sharing the teacher's limited knowledge, which allows the students to grow at a much faster pace. This model is gaining national attention. Currently there are two national magazines developing features on the WTA and prominently looking at the Selkirk students. The Spokesman Review has shown an interest in developing a feature story on the Selkirk tech students. Ford Motor Company is talking to the WTA about the idea of bringing this model to the Detroit schools. In April, the director of the WTA will be the keynote speaker at a U.S. Department of Education conference speaking to as many as 5000 principals from throughout the nation. Much of his speech will center on the educational model that the Selkirk students have perfected and the tremendous achievement created in this tiny school in the middle of the woods.
While there are many tech students providing tremendous value to the program, there are a few whose efforts have been far above any expectations. If you happen to see John Beacham, Daniel Dafoe, David Fairbairn, Joseph Kinney, Brandt March, Denny McDonald, John Mott, or Ray Starkey on the street, tell them "thank you" for their selfless volunteerism and professionalism. If you happen to see Principal Larry Reed on the street, tell him "thank you" for providing an atmosphere and the encouragement to make all of this possible. North Pend Oreille County should be proud!
About the Author:
Eric is currently teaching technology for the Selkirk School District in the northeast corner of the state of Washington. He has developed an outdoor program that corresponds with the technology program, and has the same students actively involved in both. Eric's background includes nine successful years as an active attorney, three years primarily in Juvenile Court. After years attempting to help children caught up on the criminal justice system, it became Eric Christianson's mission in life to get involved with youth before they reach that stage and try to prevent the negative cycle from beginning. You can contact Eric at emc@selkirk.k12.wa.us.
About WildTech:
WildTech is a student-based technology enterprise currently consisting of 51 schools in Washington State (and growing). It was created in partnership with the Wilderness Technology Alliance, OSPI (Washington's State Education Agency), Macromedia, Microsoft, and others. Our nonprofit mission is to provide project-based learning opportunities for high school students that teach real-world job skills while "bridging the digital divide" in their local communities. The latter provides key character, community service, and citizenship skills to students. Experienced students return to actually teach the technology class. This removes generally slower learning adults from having to keep up with improvements in technology, and places them into the role of facilitating the creation of self-sustaining technology "Enterprise" in their schools.
Copyright April 2001 New Horizons for Learning, all rights reserved.http://www.newhorizons.org/E-mail:info@newhorizons.org