In May, what began as a small visit to the CNYRIC turned into something much, much bigger. It began when a couple of students from the Weedsport Central School District reached out to the CNYRIC School District Data Coordinator Ben Norris; they were interested in seeing what a career in or adjacent to information technology actually looks like beyond the most commonly cited examples. Ben enthusiastically agreed to host the students and give them a tour of the premises, a sentiment that was shared by CNYRIC administration upon hearing the request. These students - also members of the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES Computer System and Network Administration Program - mentioned to their teaching assistant that they’d be interested in coming over to Syracuse for the tour.
After a few phone calls, the final result saw nearly 30 students and staff from both the network administration program and the BOCES Emerging Careers and Commerce program pile onto a school bus to make the trip to Syracuse for an in-depth discussion on the types of careers that can be found in information technology (and adjacent) fields!
The festivities kicked off with a conference room presentation led by Will Smith and Motahar Ali from the CNYRIC’s Network Operations Center (NOC), as well as Ben Norris from Educational Data Services (EDS). The trio talked a little about what they did day-to-day, the history of networking technology over the years throughout the building, and about themselves and what led them to where they are today.
The tour itself covered a ton of ground as it ferried the visitors throughout the various departments housed within the CNYRIC, where they gained a greater understanding about the services from the people who run them, as well as some insight about the people themselves. Students visited the NOC to catch a glimpse of the digital dashboards that monitor how well various internet services are running (and, on the rare occasion they aren’t, where the pain points are), in addition to the HelpDesk. They stopped across the hall at Food Service to learn about the tech that powers lunch lines throughout schools, and everything the Food Service team looks at as part of their day-to-day.
The tour wound through to the Technical Repair Service, which was a particular hit with the participants due to the hands-on nature of the service, the genial nature of the people that handle the device repairs, and of course, some of their office decor! The tour then took the group across the hall through the way-bigger-than-it-looks print shop, where they got a better idea of what a massive operation that is, all managed by a couple handfuls of people who are all covering a ton of ground.
The tour stopped by the Data Center, where the group learned more about the backup capabilities that the CNYRIC process has, and what the physical process of data backup looks like. On the other end of the building, the tour stopped by Ben’s “hometown” of EDS, where he helped visitors understand how information technology (as it’s commonly associated) pairs up with what CNYRIC’s data coordinators and consultants do, from how student information systems compile student data, to how that data is used to analyze trends in areas such as student attendance and testing. The tour also made a pitstop in Financial Services, where the team walked the visitors through some of the many time-and-record keeping-products and services that the group supports in service of districts.
Throughout the tour, the students remained engaged and respectful, and had a lot of fun interacting with some of the CNYRIC staff in various departments. It was an excellent way to spend the morning, all borne from a couple of intrepid students who had the courage to ask to catch a glimpse of the “real world” that is always espoused to students throughout their time in high school.
"Hosting these local high school students was a fantastic experience, and it made me incredibly proud to share all of the great work that we do at the CNYRIC,” said Ben. “It’s a great day whenever you have the chance to inspire the next generation.
