Cookeville High School students will soon train on industry-standard equipment in coding and web design classes.
The Putnam County School Board approved the purchase of 15 new desktop computers. Putnam County Schools CTE Supervisor Jackie Vester said the new hardware replaces aging technology to better align with professional IT environments.
“The current equipment that we have in the lab is approximately seven years old,” Vester said. “And so as with any technology, it has to be updated on a fairly regular basis so that we have materials for our students to work on or equipment for our students to work on that matches industry, what they’re going to see in the industry.”
The courses remain popular among the student body, with the level one class typically hitting its cap of 25 students each year. Vester said the program retains the majority of those students as they move through the curriculum.
“So it’s preparing students for those IT jobs,” Vester said.
The high school program aligns directly with TCAT Upper Cumberland to help students advance their education. Vester said students in these classes earn clock hours through TCAT toward their coding program while still in high school.
“They are slightly different than what we normally see in a school system because they will be Windows devices and that allows students to use some of the specific programs that they need for that program of study,” Vester said.
Vester said technology changes every day, making it vital to avoid using antiquated systems. She said the goal is to allow students to bring technological skills into the workplace in the areas of IT.
“We often see students that are in these programs of study at TCAT, for example, and they have businesses wanting them to come to work for them before they’ve even completed their certificate program,” Vester said.
The new computers will support the ongoing effort to ensure students can work with new technology rather than outdated equipment.