Bourgade Catholic High School is raising the bar for the rest of the Valley schools in the realm of technology. Bourgade boasts not only top of the line technology on campus, but has a student-run IT program called Hi Tech.
Students in Bourgade Catholic High School’s Hi Tech program work on repairing some student tablets (photo courtesy of Bourgade Catholic High School).
Unique to Bourgade is the ability to make in-house repairs to student Chromebooks. “When a screen cracks on one of our student’s Chromebooks, the cost to have the manufacturer repair the screen is over $100. When Hi Tech fixes the screen, the cost is around $25,” states Educational Technology Director Lyn McLaren.
Hi Tech students are able to repair the Chromebooks very quickly; in a matter of 7 minutes, a new screen can be installed and handed back to the student.
“Students in Hi Tech not only provide IT solutions and repairs for when something stops working properly, but also assists the faculty in the proper use of equipment in the classroom,” McLaren added. “When the school starts to implement a new piece of technology or equipment, Hi Tech students are able to evaluate the new technology and then teach faculty and other students how to use it properly.”
At least one Hi Tech student is available on-call during each class period to help troubleshoot and resolve IT problems on campus. Hi Tech has also developed various self-guided YouTube videos for faculty and students to utilize when issues occur.
Students involved with the Hi Tech team are not only an integral part of the Bourgade student body, but also raise the bar for other local schools to follow Bourgade’s implementation and resourceful use of technology. Students wanting to be part of the Hi Tech team are encouraged to apply in the spring of 2017 for the 2017-2018 school year.
For more information about the technology used at Bourgade Catholic or the Hi Tech program, contact Lyn McLaren at lmclaren@bourgadecatholic.org.
