By Nicole Larsen
Staff Writer

Two weeks ago, Westford Academy was plagued with an inconvenience-an internet connection failure. Teachers and students throughout the building faced the challenge of re-working their day to accommodate this untimely setback. Online lesson plans and iPass become irretrievable; printing homework and web browsing in DLT’s are no longer an option.

For students like, junior, J.C. Davis, an internet crash presents a challenge. He said, “It affect[s] my day because I like to put a lot of things on buzzword, and I can’t when the Internet is down”.

Needless to say, the current dependency on the Internet shows just how essential it is to every day academics.

However, teachers and students are not the only people in the building affected by an Internet outage. Ms. Millerick, the WA Computer Technician, and Ms. Gosselin, the Staff Instructional Technology Specialist, are the leading ladies who keep our connection up and running.

Millerick, when asked about the recent Internet problem, said that Westford Academy was affected by a town-wide issue, adding that “even the Police Station, Fire Station, Town Hall and all the schools were down”.

In order to diagnose an Internet issue and solve it, Millerick must follow numerous steps to restore a connection.

“I use a tool on my computer to monitor the internet, and I have a little Bible I use…with networking troubleshooting in it, and I follow some command prompts…we then go to the wiring closet and reboot…we got our router replaced which was [the issue] this [past] week,” said Millerick.

When asked if this process affects her day, Millerick said, “It adds stress to my day because the teachers get upset that they can’t get the attendance in, and if a class was in session and they were teaching it online it affects that, it’s very stressful”.

Ms. Gosselin, who also works as a back-up to help restore the internet, said, “It makes things very chaotic because we have to rethink the way we’re doing things…And basically coordinate to make sure everything is up and running…that’s [when] I’m running around.”