Those who know him say David Coulter, 15, is “vivacious, very intelligent, and perhaps an overachieving young man.” But aside from the compliments from teachers and fellow students, Coulter said he’s just “living it up while I can.”
As a sixth grader at Heatherwood Middle School several years ago, Coulter discovered his passion – and talent — for technology. Starting with minor computer problems and replacing overhead parts, he quickly moved on to doing the school’s morning announcements on Powerpoint and showing teachers how to use certain programs and software. Today, he is a freshman at Jackson High School, but still spends several afternoons at Heatherwood sharing his wisdom with younger students about technology.
“He is a very self-directed learner. He knows technology and he uses it,” Heatherwood librarian Teresa Allnoch said. “He is proficient in Powerpoint, Word, Excel and many other programs. And what he doesn’t know he’ll either look it up or make it up.”
Allnoch added that when Coulter attended Heatherwood, he was often at the school as early as 6:30 to see if he could help with the computers, and was consistently helping others after school as well.
“He has a heart of gold and will help anyone, anytime,” Allnoch said.
However, Coulter said that can sometimes get him in trouble.
“It’s hard to get your own stuff done when your helping people, but it’s definitely worth it,” Coulter said.
Currently, Coulter volunteers several afternoons a week at Heatherwood helping younger students in the technology club, teaching HTML skills and video editing. He is also helping Allnoch create and maintain the school’s web site, and is a co-administrator for the district’s e-mail system called the Everett Student Network.
Coulter credits his involvement in the schools for what he has accomplished so far.
“You just have to be involved, and then you can learn more than you ever thought possible,” Coulter said. “And the Everett School District is probably the best place to learn about technology because one project always leads to something else.”
In the future, Coulter said he thinks he might look into technical engineering, or possibly a job at Microsoft or the Dell computer company.
However, Allnoch has set her hopes for Coulter in a different direction.
“I hope to see him as some type of entrepreneur, a Bill Gates type in some respects,” Allnoch said. “I just don’t want him to limit himself. I think he has the creative mind to look at a population and see what the needs are and develop a company … He’s a jewel.”
Coulter said the best advice he can give people on computers comes from his personal experience.
“It’s about using your mind to see if something works, to try something new,” Coulter said. “And if it doesn’t work, draw a smiley face on the screen and restart the computer … it’s about trial and error. That usually does it for me.”
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