Dell Student TechCrew Expands Across U.S.

Dell Technologies announced it is expanding its skills-focused Student TechCrew program to over 130 schools across the United States and Australia for the 2022-2023 school year.

The Dell Student TechCrew is designed as a student-led help desk, allowing students ages 13 to 18 to gain hands-on training and strengthen their technology skills.

Student participants can earn a Dell TechDirect certification through the program, empowering them to assist their peers and school staff members with technology issues. By working their school’s help desk, students gain career development skills that will set them up for success in college and the 21st-century workforce.

“To address the digital divide in a way that affects long-term change, we must address both the technology access and digital literacy gap,” said Cassandra Garber, vice president of Environmental and Social Governance, Dell Technologies. “Through Student TechCrew, we’re able to do just that by increasing participants’ access to technical and career skills, while also ensuring increased access to devices for all students in participating districts.”

Dell Technologies’ Student TechCrew program has grown from less than 10 schools in 2019 to over 130 for the 2022-2023 school year. Last school year, nearly 1,000 high schoolers participated in the Student TechCrew program. Now, over 200,000 students across the United States have access to TechCrew technical help desks for their IT needs.

“TechCrew has been a game changer for our district,” said Dave Doubravsky, assistant superintendent of education at Jurupa Valley Schools in California. “Not only are our students learning valuable employability skills, but they also earn recognized industry certification and can step right into the workforce at graduation or continue their studies in the technologies.”

Dell Technologies said it will continue to match students’ interest in Student TechCrew with expanded investment, including improving the training and student experience. This school year, Dell will introduce student-led training through a series of recorded tutorials from veteran students.

In addition to Student Tech Crew, students can also participate in the annual Conrad Innovation Challenge, which is a global challenge designed to provide students with entrepreneurial skills. Participants have the opportunity to learn from industry experts and apply “science, technology, and innovation to solve problems with a global impact.”

Dell Student TechCrew provides endless opportunities to students beyond the classroom. In fact, Dell Technologies said some students have leveraged their TechDirect certification to land jobs in their dream IT careers right out of high school.

“TechCrew has made a big impact on not only my high school career but my life,” a Sam Houston Independent School District student said. “It showed me that as a girl in STEM there are positions for me and many other girls out there. It gave me the opportunity to finally take a step towards a STEM career.”