Chicago High School Offers Firsthand IT Training

Education systems often struggle to equip students with the right skills to enter the workplace, but I recently discovered a school that is bucking this trend.

Administrators wanted students at Chicago’s West Leyden High School to understand the IT skills needed in the business world, so they set up a technical support internship (TSI) to provide a live IT help desk for the school.

They set clear goals for the program: be the first contact point for IT queries; be academically focused; be customer-centric; and place technology at the heart of teaching, learning and productivity. For a high school program, that’s pretty impressive.

Their helpdesk mirrors those in a typical workplace. Incoming queries are recorded via a ticketing system, and the students work on a rotating system — also known as a ladder system — to ensure there is ample coverage. Students who can’t solve a problem seek assistance from a peer, enabling them to learn as well as problem-solve.

The help desk is unique because it demonstrates a live, hands-on approach to using technology. It operates in real-time, exposes students to diverse projects and challenges them to develop IT career interests and opportunities.

The program teaches hard skills — students earn CompTIA, Microsoft and Google certifications and learn Java, Python and HTML programming skills — and soft, introducing students to job interviews, resume writing and creating LinkedIn career profiles to support their imminent careers.

So far, the initiative has proven successful. By the end of summer 2013, students handled more than 7,000 help desk requests. They also upgraded the server and even developed an app to feature the daily lunch menu.

TSI further encourages innovation by hosting Entrepreneurship, a business startup class that’s relevant in today’s business climate, as 18- to 25-year-olds have created more than 20 percent of startups in the last 12 months, according to Forbes.

As this program is also linked to local employers, the hope is that Leyden students will be one step ahead of their rivals when they seek employment in just a few years’ time. Many current students say they’d rather enter the working world than continue with higher education, and the school wants to increase its connection with employers to help students find jobs — both local and beyond.

Now that is real success from humble in-house help desk beginnings.

John McGlinchey is senior vice president for global business development at CompTIA.