ELIJAH DONOHO-ICTC
A tour of the Indian Capital Technology Center campus in Stilwell was what drew Lincoln (Ark) High School junior Elijah Donoho to enroll in the IT class there.
“I’ve always been fascinated by technology and how everything is connected to the internet, and I like messing around with cords and wires, so when we went to the IT room at career tech on our tour I said, ‘I’ve done some of this’ and me and a couple of my friends followed up on it.”
The IT class is a two-year program in which the students will eventually gain certifications in some CompTia programs. It’s taught by “Buzzy” Manning who brings an extensive technology background with her. She started doing cabling for a phone company in Virginia and has worked for some big technology companies such as Cisco and Williams Communications out of Tulsa and gained multiple certifications in various facets of the business from cabling to streaming and now to A.I. (artificial intelligence) in a 20-year career. She then taught IT for 17 years at the Tahlequah campus with a constantly changing curriculum before retiring in 2019 but came back when ICTC started an IT program in Stilwell.
“We’ve added cybersecurity to the curriculum and next year will probably get more into A.I.”, said Manning. “Elijah is a talented young and man and the guys who come from Lincoln come with a good basic computer training which let’s them leap ahead in the curriculum. Right now, Elijah is at the top of his class.”
“The program started out being a bit more challenging that I thought it would be because I didn’t feel like I was as experienced as some of the other kids, but as we’ve gone along it’s gotten easier,” said Elijah who is also in the National Honor Society.
Elijah runs track at Lincoln High and he and his family are preparing to run a half marathon. He says that in both running and IT there’s a certain mentality needed to be successful.
“You have to be driven to succeed. I think you have to be more mentally hardened to be able to do what you want to do and meet your goals.”
