Senior Lexi DiMaina is organizing library books in the Media Center. DiMaina joined Teen Tech Team this year and enjoys the atypical classroom setting. “Instead of sitting in a desk like listening to a teacher lecture, we get to do hands on learning.” DiMaina said. Photo by Stacee Dillard.
By STACEE DILLARD – Staff Writer
Freshman Stacee Dillard talks with senior Lexi DiMaina about Teen Tech Team and how it has impacted students.
Stacee Dillard:Who is in charge of Teen Tech?
Senior Lexi DiMaina: Ms. (Lindy) Weaver and Ms. (Kacy) Tedder are in charge of Teen Tech at Clarke Central.
SD: What responsibilities do you have as a Teen Tech here at CCHS?
LD: We are responsible for troubleshooting computers, setting up computers for testing, doing small errands for the librarians like cleaning up or like making sure the books are straight. Just stuff like that.
SD: Are there meetings?
LD: There aren’t meetings, each person that is on Teen Tech just has a class period that they meet. I meet in fifth period.
SD: Why do you think you have to be a eleventh or twelfth grader to join?
LD: Probably because we’re trusted with a lot of stuff, like a lot of passwords and other confidential information. They just want people who are more trustworthy and also a little more mature because we’re sent on a lot of errands and we’re not always supervised or with a supervisor, so you need people that are mature and more trustworthy.
SD: What do you like about being a Teen Tech (member) and why?
LD: I like Teen Tech just because it is a class where I get a little more freedom. We learn stuff in different ways. We are more responsible when learning new material in the course and for turning in our work. Teachers aren’t really going to be on top of us. I also like that it’s not the typical classroom setting. Instead of sitting in a desk like listening to a teacher lecture, we get to do hands on learning. I like that not every day is going to be the same and we’re not always going to learn the same stuff. It just varies by situation, so I really enjoy that part.
SD: Why did you join Teen Tech?
LD: During testing time last year, we saw a lot of Teen Tech students from last year coming into our classrooms and setting up computers, troubleshooting stuff and I just thought that it was really interesting and I just wanted to be apart of that, so I decided to apply for Tech Team online.
SD: Why do you think other students should join?
LD: If you’re looking for a class where you can have more freedom and more hands on learning this is definitely a course that you might want to sign up for. I’m more of a hands on type of person. I just want to get up and interact with people and do more of my own thing sometimes. That is why I think if you’re that type of learner then this might be a class for you. Though I don’t think this class is for everyone. A lot of people learn better just being in the traditional classroom setting. I also recommend Tech Team because it’s fun and you work with a great group of students and really intelligent people.
SD: Would you say that you learn something from being a teen tech?
LD: I learned a lot of new stuff about computers and troubleshooting. I’ve also learned better communication skills for sure.
SD: How do you help the teachers with new technology?
LD: What we do is we show the teachers how to do it and they use what they learned in their classroom. For example, one of the things we did is that we made a powerpoint that was almost like a cartoon and we showed some of the freshman teachers how to use that, and they used it in their classrooms to do projects for their students.
SD: Do you like using the new technology?
LD: I enjoy that we get to use the new technology. One thing with is that we get to see things from a teacher’s standpoint. It gives us a little more insight, because I know we’re trying to do a lot more with technology, and teachers are just learning stuff. We get to learn about the technology first, then we’re actually able to teach some of the teachers how do use some of the technology in the classroom. We also get to explore new ways to use technology and I really enjoy that, because there all kinds of crazy things you can do.
