Students coach up and revolutionize tech support for peers with student-led Genius Bar
Where do you turn when your MacBook, iPhone, or iPad isn’t working correctly? Most people run to Apple’s Genius Bar. But when students at Anne M. Dorner Middle School have issues with their Chromebooks, they turn to the library, where students like Owen Brennan and Khadija Mustapha run a student-staffed Genius Bar.
Elizabeth Blye, the school’s librarian, and Allison Bacon, the instructional technology coordinator, have teamed up with over 20 students to create their very own Genius Bar. These students have transformed the program into a successful hub where they fix their peers’ Chromebooks, help teachers with new tech, and even recommend different books to their classmates!
We’re all about empowering students to coach up, so keep reading to find out how students are making a difference in their school community.
Empowering Students: Inside the genius bar
When Elizabeth Blye started a few years ago at the New York-based middle school, she wanted to arrange the library in a way that made sense for students. After turning to two student leaders, Owen Brennan and Khadija Mustapha, they began transforming the library into a place where students had more ownership over how it operated. Both Owen and Khadija have even gone on to earn Google certifications and micro-credentials.
Two years later, the middle school’s Genius Bar has turned into an afterschool club and fix-it crew full of students who are their own experts in recommending graphic novels and books, assembling new technology, helping fix Chromebooks, navigating ChatGPT, and more. Bacon shared that “It can cost $150 to $300 to send out one Chromebook for repair,” but having students keep everything in-house makes the turnaround much quicker for other students.”
This student-staffed program has not only saved the district money on computer repairs, but it has given the students a chance to gain leadership and technological skills at the same time. Students are gaining a sense of belonging and purpose as they take the lead in helping their peers and teachers with using and fixing technology.
“The student-staffed genius bar has given students a chance to really explore in a way that they might not get to in other parts of their day.” – Instructional Technology Coordinator, Allison Bacon
Student leaders inspire program expansion
Due to the success of the Genius Bar at the middle school level, the district is actively pursuing its expansion into its high school. This expansion entails high schoolers staffing their own Genius Bar while also gaining course credits. But that’s not all. Other districts are looking to expand the model for themselves, with EdWeek sharing that “Districts are increasingly experimenting with this model, in part to deal with the ballooning number of laptops and tablets purchased with pandemic relief funds, which usually arrived without a commensurate increase in district IT staff.”
TSI’s Take
Student-staffed programs like the Genius Bar give students the chance to learn new skills, expand their leadership skills, and inspire other students to do the same. Soft skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, and communication are essential to help students thrive in and out of the classroom – in fact, 71% of employers value emotional intelligence and soft skills over IQ.
You can provide students with a sense of belonging and modern-day life skills by empowering them to join clubs and after-school activities. Schools have grown past their traditional role of only being a place to learn academic skills regarding math, science, or writing skills. Instead, schools are evolving as a place where students can develop soft skills, build positive tech habits, learn how to interact with other people, and more.
In addition to a student-staffed genius bar, here are three other student-staffed initiatives you could bring to your school:
- 🌟 Student Mentorship Programs: These programs are meant to connect students with a role-model figure who they can turn to for guidance or support. In many schools, older students are paired with younger students who look up to them. The student-mentor can offer one-on-one mentorship sessions or even lead group workshops, which helps them develop leadership skills and helps the younger students feel supported by a peer. Psst. When we asked 5th graders how they would give their time and energy towards helping others in their school community, 21% of them said they would tutor younger students!
- 🌟 Student-Led Clubs and Organizations: Encouraging students to form their own clubs and organizations allows them to pursue their interests, develop leadership skills, and create a sense of community within the school.
- 🌟 Peer Tutoring Programs: Similar to the mentorship program, peer tutoring programs are a great way to encourage students who are extremely knowledgeable in a subject to help other students who may be struggling.
If you’re looking for valuable insights about how your students want to make a difference in their school community, we offer a peer-to-peer technology platform that empowers your students to use their mic for good. In our 5th grade #WinAtSocial Lesson, Tapping into our interests to volunteer and make a difference, students are empowered to:
- Describe ways to foster a culture of kindness
- Discuss how volunteering helps both the volunteer and the community
- Design their own nonprofit that aligns with their interests
Not a partner but looking to run lessons similar to this one with your students? Request a demo of our 3rd-12th grade #WinAtSocial Curriculum here.
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