The Geniuses
The 2013-2014 BHS Help Desk staff consists of a group of highly motivated, creative, and talented students. As a non-profit, Student Run Genius Bar, Help Desk students work as Educational Technology Consultants (ETC’s) and are dedicated to providing technology solutions and assistance to Burlington High School students, teachers of all disciplines, staff, and administration. No matter what your problem may be, our Help Desk staff members will work hard to find the solution!

Please come down to Help Desk and meet this year’s resident geniuses!

Danny Piotti- 1st Year Help Desk Staff Member

Bio: “My name is Danny Piotti and I am currently a junior at Burlington High school. My interests include baseball, hockey and technology. I am on the BHS Varsity baseball and hockey teams. I play second base and center field for baseball and I’m a defenseman on the hockey team. I joined Help Desk because I enjoy learning and working with new technology. Some of the apps that I use in school are Evernote, Pages, and Drive. I plan on attending a four year university and major in mechanical engineering or computer science.”

Mira Mehdi-1st Year Help Desk Staff Member

Bio: “Hi, I’m Mira and I’m a junior at Burlington High School. This is my first year doing Help Desk. I am really fortunate to have been given the opportunity to be a part of the Student Technology Integration class. I will work to find the best approach to addressing or solving a problem for students and teachers. I am hoping to major in a field that has to do with either technology or forensics. My interests include dance and guitar. I took dance lessons for a while, ever since I was five, but quit last year to focus on my school work. However, it is still a big hobby for me. I recently bought an acoustic guitar and it is actually what my Individual Learning Endeavor (ILE) is about. My favorite apps are Notability and Google Drive. Both apps allow me to do virtually everything, although Notability has an up in advantage because it allows me to draw anything free hand.”

Jacob Baumgartner- 2nd Year Help Desk Member

Bio: “Hi, I am Jacob Baumgartner.  I am in 11th grade at BHS.  I play hockey and lacrosse both at the J.V. level.  I am in multiple clubs. I am in Idle Hands, the improv group at BHS.  I am a board member the Rotary Club.  I am also in the S.A.D.D. group at BHS and the founder of Project Purple. S.A.D.D. stands for Students Against Drunk Drivers.  Purple Project is a charity that Chris Herren started.  It is a charity that helps people who have drug problems or loved ones with drug problems. I am a referee for youth hockey.  It is my third year refereeing and I love it.  Even though I am just a junior I already know that I want to be a forensic scientist.  My love of science comes from back in sixth grade when I had Mrs. Walters.  She made science fun.  She made it seem less hard than I originally thought it was.  Then, throughout the past years of science my love for it grew.  I also was good at science and math so they came easy to me.  They are both intertwined in technology.  I love forensics because of all of the police shows.  I watch all kinds of police shows, from Bones to NCIS.  I love technology and would love to keep learning about it. I love how technology is forever changing and I would love to make, one day, something that changes technology. I would like to create an app or device that would change society. I also am a huge supporter of the LGBTQ community. I believe everyone should be equal no matter what race or sexuality.”

Kyle Kurtz – 2nd Year Help Desk Staff Member

Bio: “I enjoy hockey, sports, cars, technology, hunting and fishing. I would like to own my own business someday. I am also a Mass D1 Ice Hockey State Champion! I’m considering attending either UMass Amherst or Merrimack University. I’m undecided right now for a major, but I’m thinking of a major in Business and a minor in Sports Management. This is my second year in Help Desk and I’m interested in technology and helping people with their problems.”

Jason Landry – 2nd Year Help Desk Staff Member    

Bio:  “I’m Jason, a senior at BHS, and this is my second year in Help Desk. When it comes to technology, I’m really good at fixing any problems with either the iPhone or an Android device. I’m also experienced at troubleshooting iOS, and Google Drive issues. In Help Desk, I’m known as the resident iMovie expert. I hope to join the Business program at Merrimack College in the fall. In the future, I plan to start my own accounting or computer technology business. In my free time I like to ski and I enjoy spending time with friends and family.”

Marko Lazarevic – 1st Year Help Desk Staff Member  

Bio: “I’m Marko, a senior at BHS, and this is my first year in Help Desk. I would be glad to assist anyone with any issues they may have. My area of expertise would be figuring out ways to solve problems. I specialize in Dropbox and e-mail issues and offer quality help to students or teachers who come in with issues concerning these programs. My major in college is going to be astrophysics and I hope to someday work for NASA.”

Maxwell Paraskevas – 1st Year Help Desk Staff Member

Bio:  “My name is Max Paraskevas. I joined Help Desk to further my knowledge with computers and to assist students who don’t have experience with them. In college, I plan to major in computer science and I am looking at state schools. On my off time I play golf for the high school. My favorite sport to watch is hockey because it is fast paced and exciting.  As I said earlier, I look to study computer science because I am interested by how computers work and I learn with hands on experiments. Help Desk is a good learning experience in dealing with problems students face with their iPads and will prepare me for future jobs in computer technology.”

Shams Shaikh – 1st Year Help Desk Staff Member    

Bio:  “My area of expertise would be definitely be communication! Having leadership roles in both the Student Council and NHS, I’m able to both obtain and spread information around the school very quickly. I’m familiar with sending out surveys using sites like “surveymonkey.com,” and have access to many things like: the morning announcements, class email lists, and so on. My favorite apps to work with on iOS are note-taking apps, mostly because of their ability to cleanly organize a lot of information in one place. I’m familiar with most if not all of them on the market, however, my go-to app is Notability. I do use Evernote, Paperport Notes, and neu. Annotate from time to time too. For my future plans, I’d like to major in Biomedical Engineering in college. I’d be beyond thrilled if I get the chance to study at MIT.”

Amit Patel – 1st Year Help Desk Staff Member

Bio: “The areas of technology I excel in are programming and problem solving while I also enjoy helping others with technology I have a good understanding of most of the iOS apps as well as Evernote, Notability, and Google Drive. I participate in Varsity Cross Country and Track as well as Student Council, Robotics, and Math League. In the future, I intend to become destined for greatness. I plan on studying either in the medical field or in computer science. I’m a senior, and this is my first year in Help Desk.”

Nathan Rippin- 1st Year Help Desk Staff Member  

Bio: “Burlington High School, a place that we, as students, learn about how to learn. We all have the opportunity to make ourselves better. I am in an Instrumental Group and in Boy Scouts. I excel in Mac, PC, iOS, hardware, and troubleshooting. My height helps with mounted projectors and seeing above the problem. I love to camp, play instruments, find the next big thing, and to help others. I look to help those who need it and to teach innovative ideas from projects to classroom management. Follow me at @Escape_thenate on Twitter and at Rippinreboot.wordpress.com.  ”

 

Nicholas Merlino – 1st Year Help Desk Staff Member

Bio:  “I am President of the Student Council’s Executive Board, the National Honor Society, the Italian Club, and the Rotary Interact Club. In addition I play Varsity soccer and track. I also work part-time at Pixel Forensics Incorporated, which is a company that provides products and services that locate, analyze, and search all forms of multimedia, including video, images, and audio.  I hope to become a computer programmer after majoring in computer science. I am thinking of applying to UMass Amherst. ”

 

Dylan Smith – 1st Year Help Desk Staff Member  

Bio: “My name is Dylan and I am a senior at BHS. I am fairly involved in events and activities going on around the school and I play hockey, football and baseball as well. I have a passion for technology because it plays such a large role in my life as well as the lives of other Burlington High students. I plan on going to college after high school to major in a field of business in which I am sure I will find my knowledge of technology to be very useful.”

 

Ronak Patel – 2nd Year Help Desk Staff Member          

Bio:  “I’m Ronak, I’m a senior at BHS and this is my second year at help desk. I’m so innovative and Apple-Savvy, they call me “Ronak Jobs” on the web. My areas of expertise include Ipad recovery, and generally any of your day-to-day troubles. When you talk about overall technology, resolving software issues are probably my strongest, but I can give a look at anything you bring down. I’m planning on majoring in IT or something related to that, which makes Help Desk perfect for me, but I have not yet decided on a college. “ 

 

Xin Zhang – 2nd Year Help Desk Staff Member  

Bio: “My areas of expertise include most everyday problems, regardless of device or platform. I specialize in most of the iOS stock apps, as well as Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, etc. When it comes to technology, I can solve most software related issues. I am also internet famous for the creation of this video, which is still stacking up views as of this moment. I’m thinking of applying to Boston University or Northeastern University, but I have not yet decided on a major. ”

Harsh Dedhiya – 1st Year Help Desk Staff Member 

Bio: “I’m Harsh Dedhiya, I’m a senior, and this is my first year in Help Desk. As for my tech background, I have excelled in AP Computer Science, giving me experience in different software and general computer logistics and mechanics. I would like to think that my area of expertise includes most problems with PCs and with iOS devices. After I graduate, I aim to major in something that is still undecided at a place that is still undecided as well, but hopefully I’ll know before the year ends. I think that I am very approachable and am willing to help if I can.”

 

Dora Kadish – 1st Year Help Desk Staff Member

Bio: “I’m Captain of the Chess Team. I write poetry and one of my poems won the Ruth Berrien Fox Awards last June. I also love acting (I have a mean English accent!). I’m a senior, and this is my first year in Help Desk. I plan to attend John Hopkins University in Maryland once I graduate and possibly major in Biochemistry. My dream is to travel the world in 80 days.”