Minco Schools’ emphasis on teaching tech

By Jayson Knight
jaysonrknight@gmail.com

Minco High School’s Computers II class has been learning to utilize some advanced technology such as drones and 3D printers.
The class is led by teacher/coach Cody Schmidt who says his class has tasked itself with putting together a video promoting the positive aspects of the city.
Schmidt said Friday, “It’s a computers class, but we’re kind of messing around with a lot of the technology. We have a 3D printer, and a lot of what we’re doing is videos. They learn how to edit videos. That’s why we wanted to get the drone out and get that working, so that’s kind of where we started.
“The video was the students. They had a pretty cool idea. A lot of schools have like a promotional video, just kind of about their school and the things around it, and we got the drone out and they’re getting some cool shots. They kind of want to just highlight some of the things that go on around in Minco, and throughout the school. We’ve gotten some shots of the school from above. They went to the elementary today, and then we’re going through the auditorium. We have some editors in class and their plan is to kind of get some facts about the school and put that in the video as well, with these clips they’re getting.”
While he was a teacher at Union City Schools, Coach Schmidt led a class that did something somewhat similar for nine years. He’s brought those elements of his teaching over to Minco.
“We did videos a lot,” Schmidt said. “We did some newscasts at Union City, which we’re doing that at Minco too, in my other class where we do a weekly newscast. I’ve enjoyed coming over here and kind of doing similar things, and some of the resources we have are pretty awesome, like the drone. That’s something I’ve never been able to use before, and then the 3D printer. There’s a lot of cool things that these kids are getting to do hands-on stuff with.”
As far as how these skills and experiences could benefit the students, Coach Schmidt said, “I think they’re getting hands-on experience that they’re going to use. No matter what job you get nowadays, technology is like the number one thing you have to know how to use. Whether it’s creating a video for a company, or even if you’re a coach, I know some of the kids in that class want to coach, and being a coach, I see how much I have to be on top of technology.”