Posted on: Monday, March 5, 2018

By JILLIAN STRING

LYNNFIELD — Creative, self-starter, professional and technologically passionate are just a few words that can be used to describe the members of Lynnfield High School’s Student Help Desk.

This small group of students work diligently maintaining Chromebooks, Smart Boards, iPads and other tech devices throughout the school.

Library Media Specialist Janice Alpert started the Student Help Desk seven years ago when the district adopted the one-to-one technology initiative.

“With the iPads, everyone needed hardware help, but as students and teachers became more comfortable, it became more about technology integration,” Alpert said.

What began as a way to assist the IT Department has turned into an exciting advancement in maker culture at LHS.

SENIOR Sebastian Fadel (left) and junior Joe Fabrizio show off the Student Help Desk repair center located inside the Lynnfield High School media center. (Jillian String Photo)

Student members from freshmen to seniors spend their study hall time repairing equipment, working in the Maker Space and troubleshooting in classrooms.

“The most common problem is physical damage,” said freshman Myles McKay. “Just today, a student dropped off a Chromebook and said it had a cracked screen. When I opened it, the entire screen fell out.”

According to Alpert, the students are graded on a pass/fail rating. She and members of the IT staff try to provide real world internship-like experiences, and try to play to the strengths of each student.

“(Help Desk) gives us an opportunity to express what we’re good at,” said senior Sebastian Fadel. “I’ve been in talks with Apple, and they consider Help Desk to be equivalent to four years work experience. I think that speaks to the success of how Ms. Alpert runs the program.”

According to Fadel, the Help Desk has been an inspiration. He feels that his experience allowed for the opportunity to travel to Amman, Jordan with the MIT ReACT program this past January to work with refugees. According to the MIT ReACT Hub, the program is “an institute-wide initiative that identifies, aggregates and cultivates ideas, solutions, and best practices that allow talented refugees and displaced populations worldwide to access learning resources and professional development opportunities.” The organization also leverages “MIT though leadership and technology to make MIT caliber education accessible to refugees by integrating new forms of digital and blended learning experiences specifically tailored to the needs of displaced populations.”

Fadel said the experience helped him realize what Alpert and the IT staff had created at LHS.

“(The maker movement) is about taking what you can afford and making something innovative with it. A maker space is a gift to the school and the community. It inspires creativity in everyone…It is so much more than a room with just colored paper in it,” Fadel said.

One of the goals of the Help Desk was for the teaching staff at LHS to incorporate the Maker Space into the curriculum.

Junior Joe Fabrizio excels in the area of technology education, and has taught several classes for staff professional development. Along with other members of the Help Desk, Fabrizio attended the MassCUE Technology Conference to give a presentation on how the LHS Maker Space is being used to align with the curriculum across all subject areas.

Fabrizio and the Help Desk members recently had the opportunity to run a workshop on using iPads for members of the Lynnfield Senior Center. Fabrizio stated that he enjoyed getting to know the seniors and building relationships across generations.

“It was cool having them listen to me when (one gentleman) knew how to send a rocket into space,” Fabrizio explained.

Fabrizio hopes to continue teaching classes for LHS staff and the community, and will be running a class this summer through the Summer of Fun Activities (S.O.F.A.) program offered by Lynnfield Community Schools.

The future looks bright for the Help Desk and Maker Space. Both Alpert and the student members are hopeful that a student help desk will be added at the middle school level in order to foster earlier learning opportunities for students.

The students were excited to see that maker spaces had been added at the elementary schools as well.

“We need to introduce (creative thinking) early,” Fadel stated. “As the maker movement continues, you’ll see it popping up everywhere.”

Members of the Student Help Desk noted that the Maker Space is open to everyone, and encouraged members of the community to reach out with their questions and creative ideas. More information on the Help Desk can be found at lhshelpdesk.com.