In November of 2014, a group of 11 MIS student began an Apprentice-like project where they created spreadsheets for faculty and staff in the building. For each spreadsheet, a Project Manager was elected and that student was the means of communication between the client and the workers. It was during this project that they gave themselves the name MISFits. The MISFits evolved as the students expanded their knowledge and turned into an in-house IT department for the Pottstown High School fielding IT calls that did not require administrative permission. 

 

 

One of the founding fathers of the MISFits created a weebly page for the MISFits as part of his Webpage Design class. Through this webpage, teachers will be able to fill out surveys, request services and provide feedbacks to the MISFits. The link can be found at the bottom of this page. 

 

 

The faculty or staff member fills out a request form for the project that they need completed. This project can range from a spreadsheet to needing computer maintenance. I will then assign a Project Manager to the request based off of the students skill level and comfort level with the given request. The request form can be found on the MISFits Weebly page. 

 

After a Project Manager is assigned, the lead MISFit will contact the faculty or staff member to step up a meeting if there are more details that we need. The lead MISFit will then return and discuss your needs with the rest of the MISFits. For some request, we will do multiple versions of an item, such as a spreadsheet, which you will then see before making a final selection of the product you like. If it is a computer maintenance call, the lead MISfit and an assistant will come to your room to fix the IT issue.

 

The students of MIS love to hear your feedback on how they did. I benefit from your feedback as well, as I send the MISFits out on their own when answering calls. Some days we go out as a group to multiple locations and other days only one of two students go out. Students earn MISFit Points for successfully answering IT calls. These points are earned through professionalism and handling the IT call to the best of their abilities. A student will not be penalized for not immediately knowing how to handle a task. They would be penalized for failing to follow up with that teacher once they do understand how to handle the situation. Students can use their MISFit Points to "purchase" things in class that will benefit them. We do not charge for our services so I developed a points system so that they do get something out of their adventures like the other Career and Technology shops that do charge money for their services.