Duchesne’s CAVE Girls are Back in Action

Duchesne’s ‘CAVE Girls’ provided computer and technical support to fellow students and faculty as the community returned from summer break and began MOD 1 (Aug. 8 – Sept. 16).  

At Duchesne Academy, high school students can partake in the Information Technology Internship course. In this course, students, assisted by the Technology Department staff, run the CAVE (Computer Audio/Video Education) Helpdesk which is a Dynabook certified service provider. Through this self-maintained program, which commenced in 1999, students learn how to provide quality customer service, perform in-house laptop repairs, and grow their technological knowledge and experience. Duchesne’s IT Interns are known as "CAVE Girls" throughout the school. All interns registered to take the course arrive to campus a week prior to the start of school. During this week, they receive training and become certificated Dynabook technicians by Dynabook engineers. 

Junior CAVE Girl, Tessa Harfenist, repairing a student laptop by using her tools to fix the computer touchpad. 

I interviewed Debbie Meza, Duchesne's Education Technology Support Manager, who oversees the CAVE internship program and fulfills the role of the CAVE Girls’ teacher. Before the school year began, CAVE Girls prepared for Out of Box training, where new students and freshmen receive and become acquainted with their new laptops. The training was led by experienced IT Interns from the past school year. Impressively, 170 computers were networked in 2 weeks by the CAVE's summer interns. This student-run Help Desk, managed solely by young women, will support close to 500 student devices. This year there are 23 girls in the CAVE program, 10 of which were in the CAVE during MOD 1.

Throughout the first MOD of the school year, Cave Girls began to transition students and faculty into the school year by familiarizing them with using their devices, and ensuring their computers are working efficiently. By working the Help Desk, they provide customer service, create tickets using the SchoolDude ticketing system, complete class assignments, and network/program computers. In addition to troubleshooting and self-diagnosing issues, CAVE Girls identify the additional parts needed to complete repairs. Due to their summer training, IT Interns are equipped to complete the computer repairs in the CAVE. These repairs can range from simple battery replacements to more advanced and time-consuming LCD and Motherboard repairs. Once completed, they perform quality checks to ensure that the computer is in prime condition for the owner. 

The door of the Technology Center which is located on the second floor of Duchesne.

Senior Brynn Bond, CAVE intern for all 4 years of her high school career, shared her love for the program, “My favorite aspects of working in the CAVE is customer service and assisting people at the Help Desk. The CAVE has taught me the importance of patience both with people and computers. It has also taught me perseverance especially with troubleshooting!” 

Through this unique internship, not only do CAVE Girls enhance their professional skills such as documentation and customer service, but also build up their own confidence. Mrs. Meza touched on her hope for CAVE Girls to feel empowered through this exclusive internship, “When you go out into the workforce, hopefully you are not intimidated and have built up confidence and professional skills from your experience in the CAVE, not shying away from a male oriented field such as technology.” 

"The best part is to see some interns start CAVE their freshmen year not knowing what to do, but now being one of the CAVE's foremost interns where teachers seek them out in their classrooms for their technical skills and push out these skills into their groups and projects. I love to see the growth and their burgeoning confidence. Observing them lead our Out of Box trainings and teach some our new interns absolutely melts my heart,” Mrs. Meza said. 

With the end of MOD 1, the next round of CAVE Girls have begun their internship with the start of MOD 2 and will continue to contribute to the program’s supportive outreach to the Duchesne community.