8 am. Monday morning. The halls of Pana High School gleam like mirrors under fresh wax. While teachers are filtering into their classrooms with laminated posters and supplies, twelve dedicated students are gathering in the second floor STEM lab, four days before school begins. Their purpose? They are about to embark on a two-day Chromebook repair bootcamp that will teach them how to diagnose and repair multiple models of chromebooks used throughout the district.
These students are enrolled in Ms. Skinner’s Technology Applications class and have the opportunity to participate in a student-led Chromebook repair team, in conjunction with the district’s ChromeCare insurance provider, Xerox IT Solutions. One of the class objectives is to diagnose common Chromebook issues, evaluate if the repair can be completed in-house, and prepare the devices that need extensive repair to be shipped to the insurance provider.
Eric Rivera, Xerox IT Client Manager from the Wisconsin branch, has created a training program that allows high school students to complete repairs such as keyboard, monitor, and trackpad replacements in-house. While some repairs must be sent to the company due to their complexity or parts availability, having a student-led repair team here minimizes the wait time for repair while also providing students with valuable skills that are transferable to post-secondary jobs in technology.
The in-house Chromebook repair program also gives way to leadership opportunities within the student body. This year, second-year veteran Parker Moore will act as Head Technician for the program. Working together, the Technology Applications class will be the first point of contact for broken or malfunctioning Chrome devices, putting their critical thinking skills into motion as they diagnose and repair devices from classrooms in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Last year, the program saw a 25% reduction in broken Chromebooks due to increased student involvement in modeling proper care and usage of devices.
Ms. Skinner has been amazed and encouraged by the growth of the program in class, as well as the willingness of the students to tackle repairs that were not initially required of the student repair team. “They’ve moved beyond screen and keyboard repairs to swapping out motherboards, extracting audio jack blockages, and replacing damaged cases and hinges. This year, the program will also begin to train select groups of students at Pana Junior High to do simple diagnostic evaluations and help troubleshoot basic errors in the software.” This is the third year the repair program has been incorporated into the class and it continues to showcase the skills and talents of students here at Pana High School.
The 2025 Spring class was highlighted on WAND STEM Minute here.
