Local students learn about digital courtroom

Local students from State Technical College Computer Professions on Demand program relax Tuesday outside the federal courthouse in Jefferson City. The students visited the courthouse while learning about its information technology from Linn State Technical College tour guides.
Local students from State Technical College Computer Professions on Demand program relax Tuesday outside the federal courthouse in Jefferson City. The students visited the courthouse while learning about its information technology from Linn State Technical College tour guides.

Some local students witnessed firsthand Tuesday how successful law proceedings in federal court are at least in part due to the orderly workings of technology installed in the courtroom.

Twenty students in State Technical College's 2017 Computer Professions on Demand (CPoD) summer program visited several sites in Jefferson City to get a glimpse of how information technology plays a role in different professions.

CPoD has given students throughout the state opportunities like this since 1998. Students spend four days at State Tech's campus in Linn, learning about careers in computer technology, while also venturing out to visit different employers in the area.

On Tuesday, before the CPoD students traveled to the Central Division of the federal Western District of Missouri at the Christopher S. Bond Court House in Jefferson City, they visited sites including the Capitol, the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce, the state's information technology services division and Central Technology Services.

Lucas Wolters, who will be a junior at Helias High School, said he had not been aware of the many local opportunities for internships, and he's excited about exploring them.

"This is in my town, this is near me, this is accessible to me," Wolters said.

Kaleb Tuinstra said he has participated in the CPoD program for three years. Tuinstra, who will be a senior at Jefferson City High School, said something new the class did this year was take apart a computer and learn about its components.

Amanda Barch said the computer dissection was part of the "Know Your Computer" activity Monday. Barch is the enrollment management associate for events at State Tech.

She said students have had to take notes throughout the week and will give a presentation Wednesday - the last day of the program - about what they learned. Their teams of five don't know their assignments for those presentations yet.

She explained some students have experience in technology, and while others don't have any, they're all interested in evaluating if the field is one they're interested in for a career.

"It would be great if they stayed local," she said.

While sitting in jurors' seats and elsewhere around a courtroom on the fourth floor of the federal courthouse, the students heard from Tony Centobie about his experiences in IT. Centobie is the IT specialist for the Central Division and is the sole IT employee in the building.

He said he started out as a cook in the U.S. Army, then after four years joined the Missouri National Guard to become an aircraft electrician. That eventually led to working in IT, where he's been for 13 years. He has worked at the Jefferson City location of the court for six years.

He gave students a tour of the technology integrated into court proceedings, including a document camera that folds out of the center podium, an on-screen annotation tool, adjustable monitors at each juror's seat, connections for an interpreter's headset and a video conferencing system that can let faraway family members view their kin attaining citizenship.

He also explained his day-to-day routine of equipment maintenance, and generally what it takes to be successful as an IT professional. Some of those tips included being on time, doing what one says one is going to do, following up with customers after a problem has been fixed and knowing how to communicate.

"Just because you know tech, that doesn't mean the next person does," he said.

In addition to Wolters and Tuinstra, both of Jefferson City, other local students participated in this year's CPoD program:

From Helias: Skyler Winkelman, of Tebbetts;

From JCHS: Jackson Dudenhoeffer and Tatyana Sheremeta, both of Jefferson City;

From Fatima High School: Tanner Maasen, of Freeburg, and Braden Bax, of Bonnots Mill; and

From South Callaway: Justice Brewer, of Fulton.