The Oakland Tech Computer Repair class has gone through many ups and downs since it was started in 1996. Today, the class consists of four students and Mr. Onyeador, their teacher, who are committed to keeping our school’s technology working.
When Mr. Onyeador started the Computer Science Academy in 1996, there was a big need for computer repair. The district didn’t have enough money to pay for an IT specialist, so Mr. Onyeador created a class for students to repair computers.
There was so much interest that he created two classes with 30 students each, one in the morning before school, and one after school. In addition to teaching students how to fix problems with classroom technology, Mr. Onyeador prepared students to get a Cisco Industrial License, a qualification for students to get high-paying computer repair jobs.
“I had parents coming in thanking me and telling me that their kids paid their way through college,” recalled Mr. Onyeador.
The program crashed to a halt in 2010 when OUSD got enough money to hire an IT specialist, Mr. Williams, for Oakland Tech. But when OUSD ran out of money to pay him last year, the responsibility to repair the computers, projectors, and printers for over 100 Oakland Tech classrooms fell on Mr. Onyeador.
“Last year I was always running back and forth…” remembered Mr. Onyeador. “The weekend school started, on Saturday I was in until 12:30 in the night…”
So it was necessary for him to create a new computer repair class for this school year.
“These guys are lifesavers,” Mr. Onyeador said. “They really came in and did a lot for me.”
The current class includes one 7th-period class in the Quick Lunch Room consisting of four students. Zia Cohn, Sam Liuson, Elliot Andelman are all in the Computer Science Academy and were recommended for Computer Repair by their Computer Science teachers. “I was randomly placed here because I had a free period,” Andelman remembered. “Mr. Onyeador needed assistance, so he asked for some recommendations from computer science teachers who gave a few names.” Andleman and others who were placed in the class based on recommendation decided to stick with it, and are happy with the decision. Meanwhile, Stanley Wang says, “I like to play games on my computer, but I don’t really know much about computers, so I joined to get a little more knowledge.”
Mr. Onyeador and his students have had their hands full identifying the problems with the school’s broken chromebooks. Andelman says, “One had a gray screen with random color stripes, looks kinda cool till you realize it doesn’t work at all.”
So far in class, they have sent out a form to all the teachers to find out how many of their class chromebooks are broken. Then they come around to each classroom and collect the broken chromebooks, bring them back to the Computer Repair room, and bring new Chromebooks back to the teachers on loan.
Mr. Onyeador’s students have also been repairing old computers and giving them to students who need a personal computer, after removing outdated OUSD software. However, once you have received a computer for personal use, Mr. Onyador and his students ask that you do not come to them for upkeep and repairs.
The job of the Computer Repair class has not been without its challenges. When asked what was the craziest Chromebook damage she had seen, Zia Cohn answered, “Oh my god… probably one of Mr. Fern’s computers. When you turned it on the burn cracks were lit up all over the screen!” So next time you use a Chromebook, you can remember all the hard work our Computer Repair class has put in to make it work.