Behind the Screens with Sam and Joe
NEIRAD enilno edition
Every day, hundreds of students use one of the 500 computers around campus. They take for granted the fact they can access their P Drives and that the Internet is properly working. Many people do not notice all the programs they can use and the Webmail they can easily access from the computers.
During class, students learn many of their lessons through the projectors and may look at the TVs placed all around the school to learn about new events. However, two men are working behind the scenes to make sure everything works: Joe DiLeonardo and Sam England. These two are the loyal IT Support.
“They are phenomenally hard-working,” physics teacher George Marrash said.
Mr. DiLeonardo and Mr. England started out as students at Norwalk Community College. They graduated and accepted internships at Darien High School. They then finished their degrees at UConn and came back to DHS to work. Sam has been working here for 10 years and Joe for six. A little background on these two IT experts: Joe is a native of Norwalk, and married. He is an avid softball player and plays fantasy sports. Mr DiLeonardo loves anything sports-related and one of his favorite websites is ESPN. He owns both an HP computer and a Mac.
Sam is originally from Jamaica. He loves to surf the Internet and play with his computer. In his time free time, Sam loves to sit down and read a good book or play cricket. He is married and has three children. He owns a Gateway computer.
Both recommend anyone who wants to work in IT should get a bachelor’s degree and an A+ certification. However, they say, it is a lot of work to become an IT. You also have to love technology. “We love to play on the computer in our spare time,” Mr. England said. Joe and Sam work hard to maintain the technology at Darien High School. Twelve months a year they are fixing the school’s computers, the faculty’s tablets, projectors, and TVs. When asked if they could you fix any computer, they quickly responded “Of course.” They have changed almost every computer in the entire school and have set all of them up, including the new computers in the drafting rooms. “I’m happy that we even have as many computers as we do! It’s a great resource and I’ve never had too many difficulties with the computers,” sophomore Liz Nelson said.
“They are doing well. They have helped me to get my password and Aspen working. I haven’t had any problems yet,” senior Alex Iqbal said.
The hardest thing the IT team has done this year is get the computers ready for school. In the summer, all the monitors, except those in the library, get taken out of the classrooms and have to be put back and tested by these two IT experts. It takes them two weeks to prepare all the computers for school and a lot of determination to finish on time.
On the first day of school, all the ITs in Darien got a total of 160 emails to fix the computers. However, on an average day, the two will have 35 things to do throughout the school. If you ever need to find them, they will often be working in the C-Wing basement room 005. (Diagonal to the weight room) “Joe and Sam are great and always help out when we need them,” biology teacher Sean Otterspoor said.
Now that we have seen the work load that they have, here are some of the things they have done for our school computers. Mr. DiLeonardo and Mr. England have installed software throughout all the computers and made sure that they work. Furthermore, they ensure the Internet will work properly. The IT team’s also has set up the desktop authority on every computer. This customizes the computer to the user log in. This allows every person to have their own P Drive and an easy access to Microsoft Outlook (the school email).
They have blocked many sites and can bar access to virtually anything from the computers. However, they do not take the initiative to block sites unless teachers complain. They say most of the forbidden sites were put there by the State of Connecticut. Out of all the work these two have done throughout the school, they claim the hardest thing to do is get the wireless computers in working order. “Working as an IT can be stressful, but I won’t stop. I have to fix it,” Mr. DiLeonardo said.
In a school with 500 student computers, more than 200 tablets, and well over 80 projectors, just two people make it all work. Joe DiLeonardo and Sam England are two of the hardest working people in the whole school, sometimes staying at Darien High School for 12 hours. “We’ve see many interesting things that we’ve never seen before,” Mr England said. He says it has been a wonderful experience and that he loves working here. Their dedication to making the technology at our school work shows their true determination. “It’s not a job, it’s a passion,” Mr. DiLeonardo said.
