More technology in schools means an increased need for tech repair. 

The West Irondequoit Central School District has tapped into the technical talents of students to help troubleshoot and repair dozens of student laptops every week. 

What You Need To Know

  • The WICSD Student Helpdesk has a student tech team that helps repair district laptops

  • Students earn school credit for their repair work

  • Students have to be Dell certified before working on the laptops and are supervised by the district's network technician

Three thousand student laptops are in use throughout the West Irondequoit School District.

“We get a lot. I’d say the middle school is the most challenging. They treat them [laptops] a little rough,” said Angelo Collazo, network technician at West Irondequoit School District.

When laptops malfunction or are damaged, they land on Collazo's desk. These days, he has some help by way of the Student Tech Crew.

“I love a good problem, and whenever you work with computers, there is always something going wrong,” said Collazo. "The students diagnose and I step back and see how they process it. It can lead to some good careers for these students."

Senior, Aidan Stewart is one of six students that is a part of the Student Helpdesk. He applied and interviewed for the gig. The students earn school credit for their work and have to get Dell certified. 

“This is a lot of problem-solving and it is what I like, and I think I’m pretty good at it. I say I’m pretty good at it,” said Stewart.

From bad motherboards to cracked screens and missing keys, the Student Helpdesk is fixing a few laptops a day. 

“This is run by our Student Helpdesk. Angelo does a great job supervising them. These are the kids that have independence and get that opportunity to make decisions and also repair things,” said Casey Wagner, director of technology at WICSD.

“It is a good skill to have for any job, because technology is going to be part of your life every day,” said Stewart.

The Student Helpdesk is continuing to expand. WICSD says it’s considering adding a student tech crew at Dake Junior High School.