They listen to your constant complaints about the tablets and to tend to every one of your tech-related woes. They are our campus IT guys. Under the leadership of Peter Leonard, Director of Information Technology, the team has been backbone of the recent 1:1 tablet PC rollout. Here’s a look at the men behind the scenes of SMCHS technology.

Let’s start with Amir Hadis, who was recently shocked to learn that he’s been working at SMCHS for the past ten years. After receiving SMCHS’s annual Years of Service award for his loyalty to the school, Hadis says he was surprised, thinking that he was only here for six. He traveled to America after graduating college in his home country, Indonesia, and has always had his mind set on technology.

“At home I like to play with my computer,” Hadis said. “I’m not a computer geek, but I enjoy making robots and fiddling with remote controlled cars.”

Denying his father’s wishes to become a doctor, Hadis now loves the variation of working as an IT guy at SMCHS and prefers it over the dull environment of a corporate office.

There’s also Richie Medina, who might have come into your classrooms to help with some technical issues. Medina has been working at SMCHS for two years, after being an intern at the school for about a month.

While working full time, he also has been developing his degree in network systems administration at the ITT Technical Institute. Ever since he was a kid, Medina has always had a passion for working with computers. One of his dreams is to become the administrator for an entire enterprise company.

“Being an IT guy allows me to do what I love while fiddling with computers, servers and switches,” Medina said. “Whether it be from Google or some other resource, I always get to learn something new every day.”

Next up are the new guys in the group: Javier Hernandez and Kaleb Boultinghouse.

Hernandez describes himself as “brand spanking new, just like our laptops,” with only a week of working as an IT guy at SMCHS.

“Ever since I graduated high school — which was a long time ago — I knew I wanted to do something with computers,” Hernandez said. “But about six years ago I was a truck driver because sometimes life happens and you lose sight of what you really want to be doing.”

In his new role, Hernandez enjoys the pressure of finding solutions, even though he’s already had his own fair share of crazy run-ins with students.

“There was a girl the other day who was almost in tears, crying over an important document she thought she lost forever,” Hernandez said. “When I ended up finding it, she was so happy and thankful; I think I like to kind of pull the rabbit out of the hat and save them from their problem.”

Kaleb Boultinghouse has been an IT guy for about a month and a half. So far, he says his favorite part about the job is the people.

“You always hit new and interesting problems and it’s like a puzzle you get to solve every day,” Boultinghouse said. “With similar issues, you can go through quick and get some reassurance in what you’re doing, and other times, you just have to break it down and try to find the answer.”

A computer science major, Boultinghouse knew from a young age that he was interested in computer programming. Ever since he got his first Super Nintendo at the age of five, he’s disassembled computers, built his own computer and worked in the server department at Chapman University

Boultinghouse has decided to continue working at SMCHS for a few more years, so you’ll be seeing him around a lot more.

Without these hidden heroes of our school, most students still wouldn’t know how to work the tablets. Remember the personalities behind the windows of the Tech Service Center and be sure to express your appreciation for their hard work.