Before it was 24PinTech, it was an IT class. 

Today, it’s a well-aged business operated by Maricopa High School students who offer cheap computer repairs and IT services to community businesses and residents. They only charge for damaged parts. 

“The basic thing is we teach them how to be a technician,” said Brad Chamberlain, the longtime teacher who heads up the 24PinTech class at Maricopa High School. “They function as an actual business.” 

Students get hands-on experience repairing electronic devices, from cell phones and tablets to laptops and desktop computers. The class teaches students about networking and computer maintenance.  

24PinTech provides tech support for the entire CTE network at MHS. A fully student-run operation, it also helps Maricopa Unified School District with its network. 

24PinTech started as a club of about 10 students and Chamberlain told them if they wanted to work in IT they should develop a business plan. And that they did. 

Today, they manage a work-order system that tracks all tech repair jobs. 

“We do the work for free; we just charge them for parts,” said Chamberlain, a Maricopa Meadows resident.  

This week the student IT team has 12 work orders in progress in the system. The student team has a website at 24Pin.tech, built by 2019 MHS graduate Tyler Griego. 

“This is all built and maintained and set up by students,” said Chamberlain, who has been with the district 16 years, the past 11 at MHS. 

 “I didn’t do any of this. I didn’t touch this.”

The students work with various businesses and people in the community needing tech repair and maintenance.  

Inside the repair lab, MHS junior Mason Raymond was working on a Nintendo Switch, which is a project skill out of the ordinary for 24PinTech but was something Raymond heavily researched. 

“I’m testing for continuity on the capacitors to see if the charging circuits are broken,” Raymond said.  

Next to Raymond, MHS senior Jaiden Thatcher worked on an iPad replacement screen. 

The class has a networking and data center that supports websites outside MUSD. A museum with Mac and PC computer models dating back to the mid-1980s can be found in a classroom. They are all restored by students and still in working condition. 

MHS Junior Asher Hyde has managed orders for 24PinTech for two years.

“I just was always interested in computers, ever since I was a kid,” Hyde said. “I liked to open them up and see what was inside.” 

Hyde said he hopes to continue to develop tech skills to repair computers after graduation. 

Chamberlain said many of his PinTech24 students have gone on to work at local businesses. 

“I thought it would be interesting to work in repairing stuff,” she said, adding she likes working on phones. 

Today, students come into the tech program as freshmen or sophomores, taking a basic computer maintenance course. In just the first year, they learn how to take a computer apart, put it back together, install operating systems, fix laptops and mobile devices, and determine the security history of a device. 

Chamberlain said if students do well in the entry-level class and prepare properly, they will be ready to take the Comp TIA+ test, a PC tech certification of professional-level skills. Passing the test means students become certified computer technicians. 

Evan Addington, a sophomore who has been in 24PinTech for three years, said he was working on a cell phone, trying to find out what needs to be repaired. 

Addington said he’s interested in learning about technical networking. He hopes to pursue two years a Central Arizona College in Maricopa and then transfer to Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, which is well know for its cybersecurity program. 

“I think I’m really going to go to college for this,” Addington said.