An alarm buzzes in his pocket, he quickly packs his belongings and rushes out to head to his third period. Unlike his peers, senior Will Witherspoon’s last two classes of his day is at the district’s repair center, his job. He clocks in, greets his longtime co-workers, cracks his knuckles and starts on his paperwork for the day. 

Will works at the repair center as a student employee in the IT sector. His work consists of sending repair forms, performing repairs to Macbooks and iPads and filing paperwork for the district. His boss, Michelle Rinkevich, has trained and prepared Will for his job at the center since starting his job at the repair center over a year ago.

“I like seeing how [technology] works, it’s interesting to me,” Will said. “When I was little, I just used to take stuff apart.”

After being recommended by his computer maintenance instructor Jordan Canfield from Dale Jackson, Will obtained his first job outside of food service and closer to his ideal career. Since being interested in engineering and IT work from a young age, this job is to be the start of Will’s career in technology.

“Will is a great employee with a positive attitude,” Michelle said. “He does an outstanding work and has become a mentor to other interns in the program.”

When Will told his mother, Lilly Witherspoon, he wanted to work at the IT center, she supported him wholeheartedly. However, being both an intern and an AP student meant Will had a lot to contend with. He managed to juggle them both without the help of his mom, which gave her lots of pride.

“Everything about Will makes me proud,” Lilly said. “I’ve never really bragged about my children, but Will, I think, is unique. If he wants to do something, he’ll do it [even if] it’s a challenge to him.”

With his acceptance into UNT, Will doesn’t plan for a future in IT, but he does plan to major in computer engineering. However, he believes the work he and other interns perform at the repair center is integral to the operation of the district.

“[My work] is very necessary,” Will said. “We keep all kids with devices in their hands and we repair teacher devices as well. Without us, there would be no technology.”