Ishan Shah has recently joined the Westford Academy staff. He works as a part-time support technician this year and is helping teachers with any audio, visual, or network issues they may have.

Q: Can you give a description of your job at Westford Academy?

A: I am a support technician. Basically, my job is to assist teachers in the immediate term if they’re having any issues with either their Chromebook, laptop, audio, visual, network issues or otherwise. I’m kind of the first point of contact. In that scenario, I would try to solve the problem, and if it’s something that I can’t solve, then I would pass it on to the right people that can get that issue fixed. 

Q: Who are some of your coworkers in your department or other teachers that you work closely with?

A: Stephanie Gosselin, Chris Jewell, Anne Millerick, and Mark Miller [are my coworkers]. All of these people work in the technology department at Westford Academy. 

Q: Have you always wanted to work in IT or at a school? 

A: It’s kind of something I am doing in my free time. I graduated from college in May, and I’ll be working at a company called Wayfair. I had a bunch of free time and saw a post on a job website that there was a job available in IT at Westford, so I picked up because I actually do have a background in IT. 

Q: When did you decide to work at Westford Academy?

A: I saw the post for the job website this summer, and I have just started working at Westford this school year. 

Q: What have been some of the difficulties that you have faced this year?

A: In general, obviously one of the biggest concerns was facilitating the RLA students and in-person students together in a classroom environment. That’s the biggest challenge for any teacher in any school, but I think the teachers here are doing a fantastic job in figuring these changes out and getting students engaged. 

Q: Have teachers or students been having difficulty with the technology this year?

A: So I’m not particularly sure about students. I work directly with teachers more than students. So even from what I’ve seen and heard from the teachers, there hasn’t really been anything outstanding so far. 

Q: What is your opinion on the hybrid learning model and the remote learning model?

A: So far it seems to be working really well. Obviously, in an ideal world, everybody would be in-person. It’s never easy having half of your students online and half of your students in person. But, I think everyone here is doing the best they can, given the circumstances.