In this day and age, technology is the best medium for relaying information; this makes it a very valuable tool for teaching and learning.

Everyday, students go to turn on a computer and they expect it to work. Everyday, teachers make phone calls and expect to get through. Everyday, there are announcements made over the PA system, information expected to reach the students. Everyday, overheads are expected to turn on and display notes for the students.

The responsibility to make sure that all of these devices work when they are needed falls on the shoulders of one man–that man is Greg Treharne.

Like Batman protecting the citizens of Gotham, Treharne, Cotter’s Tech Support, works in the shadows to protect the students and faculty of Cotter from malfunctioning technology. Whether that means looking up a student’s password, or creating a makeshift overhead projector for a teacher, Treharne will come to the rescue.

So what is an average day like for this superhero? Busy! Batman may have one bad guy a month to attack, where Treharne’s day starts by answering the 20 or so emails and phone calls made by faculty in need.

“It is mostly simple stuff in the beginning of the year: can’t access BlackBaud, students need a password,” Treharne said. “Toward the end of the year is when problems get a bit more challenging.”

When Treharne first came to Cotter, it was clear there was work to be done. His predecessor had laid down the foundation for Treharne, but there were issues with the old server Cotter was using. It would crash often, leaving the students and teachers unable to connect to the computers. Treharne upgraded the entire server, now crashes are a thing of the past.

At times, Treharne has run into different barriers. Most recent, financial cuts.

“Probably the biggest challenge I have faced at Cotter is the lack of funding,” Treharne said. “But I was able to upgrade all of the computers in the lab before the cuts took place.”

Treharne also goes beyond working the regular day, he shows up any time that technology is being used..

“I will be doing a sports award event, and Greg will always be there, even if I didn’t request it,” Jenny Carpenter, Activities Director, said. “He’ll smile at me and said ‘There’s technology being used, what if it doesn’t work?’”

Originally from Sparta Wis., Treharne studied at UW-La Crosse and went on to work at multiple computer stores: 16 years at a copier firm and 5 years of IT support at Houston School in Houston Minn.. However, most of Treharne’s technology experience was self-taught using books and “just trying things.”

With the advances in technology slowly taking over the classroom, Treharne is open to the concept it, however, there can be downsides.

“Buying 300 ipads at $300 a piece becomes very expensive, and having to upgrade the devices ever couple of years gets very expensive,” Treharne said. “Even just updating the software, after a few years, companies stop offering support to devices that old.”

But Treharne is advocating the use of Google Drive for a way of document writing and turning assignments in.

“No matter what computer you are using, you will be able to access your document with you Cotter email account.”

It is practical things like this that can help technology reach the students. Chemistry teacher Lisa Hull was finding the old overhead projector she was using to be an impractical piece of equipment for giving note and showing students examples, but she was low on the Smartboard waiting list and needed something quick.

Treharne saw this damsel in distress and jumped into action. “He measured my podium, how high my projector was, how high I could reach my arm, all sorts of things,” Hull said.

After two weeks, Treharne emerged from his Batcave with a contraption that put Smartboards to shame. It was a new age projector that combined a webcam and PVC pipes to display any sheet of paper, through a projector, onto a screen.

Cotter’s very own Batman, inventing technology cheaply and quick to improve the overall learning quality for the students.

“And yes,” Carpenter said. “He is a superhero.”