State's tech secretary visits Scotland High Genious Bar
Jul. 4—LAURINBURG — "Don't be scared," said Mary Collins, as she shadowed interns Thursday in Scotland High Schools' Genious Lab. "You may have a customer standing over your shoulder watching because that's their baby."
Collins, an information technology technician for the school district, was reassuring the four student interns present about the special visitor who came to see the Genious Bar in action, the N.C. Department of Technology's secretary and chief information officer, James Weaver.
Weaver had a chance to watch the interns, who are all HP Certified, repair laptops used by the school district, while also recruiting and educating them about career paths for those seeking to break into the technology industry.
Weaver said there are "a lot of opportunities in technology as you know. Technology is immersed in everything we deal with on a daily bases ... As you start thinking about technology and where you may want to go for a career, there are lots of opportunities."
The Genius Bar, which is a part of the Career and Technical Education Program, has been a history-making part of the district's technology department for the past seven years, according to Collins.
Collins said students throughout the school year repair computers as part of the Genious Bar.
"It's like a class and then in the summertime, we'll offer them a chance to work with the Technology Department so they can gain knowledge and get a little bit of change in their pocket," Collins said,
"With this program overall, we've been doing this for the past 10 years. We were doing it before it become popular to do it," Collins said.
Through the program, the interns can make about $10 an hour, Collins said.
"We had students who were interested in learning and wanted to share with them so we had students that would come before the program had even started, to volunteer," Collins said.
Without stepping on any toes, Weaver said he wanted to offer students knowledge on the many jobs available in the cyber, data analytics and security fields of technology among others. The NC Department of Technology is also offering apprenticeship and internship opportunities with a starting pay of $20 and the option to work remotely.
"IT is one of those areas where we're not public facing. We don't have to necessarily be there in a storefront to engage with North Carolinians on a day-to-day base ... You do not need to be in Raleigh to work for the state," Weaver said.
Weavers said the state of North Carolina has an 11-14% vacancy rate in Information Technology.
"We want to make sure we're getting out and tapping across the entire talent of North Carolina to try to come and engage in the workforce at the state level ... IT is probably on the better end of the vacancy rate overall in state government than many of state agencies."
"Private sectors are going to be looking for work experience. A lot of places are going to be looking for five years. Come work for us for five years," Weaver told students.
In addition to the Genious Bar, Career and Technical Education Program Director Jonathan McRae gave Weaver a tour of other CTE Programs housed at the campus, ending with the Culinary Program where students prepared shrimp and grits.