“You don’t see that much anymore,” said Paul LaGrange, who teaches in the computer repair lab at Arts and Tech High School in Marysville. “For many, they’re holding a tool for the first time. It’s empowering.”

The 35 class members will be having an open house at the school Jan. 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. About 50 computers that they have repaired will be sold for about $50 each. Money made will go to buy parts for future repairs.

The class started five years ago when some computers were donated to the school. LaGrange, who is involved in credit retrieval, offered a summer class to fix the computers, which were then donated to children in Guyana. Kids enjoyed the experience so much they asked LaGrange if it could become a class, and he made it happen. The first class started with six students but grew to 25 by the end of the year, and has grown from there.

LaGrange said about 500 computers have been repaired for free.

“It’s our service program,” he said, adding he thinks it’s the “only one of its kind in the state.”

In the computer lab, LaGrange said he wants to create lifelong learners. That means he helps students develop a curiosity to find answers to questions on their own.

“Google it,” is what super-senior Blake Horenstein tells underclassmen. “That’s how I learned.”

LaGrange added: “There’s no textbook for what they’re doing here. They have to dig down and teach themselves.”

Actually, they do get guidance from LaGrange, Horenstein and one other. But it’s mostly on where to look for answers. That’s the way it’s done in the lab.

“I’m going to miss this place after four years,” Horenstein said.

Horenstein, who aspires to be a network architect, became interest in computers when he was given an Amiga when he was 4.

“I didn’t like it because I couldn’t do much with it” because it didn’t have internet access, he said, adding he took it apart and has been interested ever since.

Horenstein, who also is involved in robotics, said he likes mechanics because it is logical.

“There’s no randomness that will throw anything off,” he said, adding if it’s done right it will work guaranteed.

Horenstein said his favorite part about the class is that students learn on their own. He said students might be more interested in other classes if they were taught the same way.

“You want to learn and understand it for yourself,” he said.

Another senior, Xavier Melton, has learned so much he is planning to open a video gaming business by spring with two of his cousins. They have a game involving a plane going through burning buildings that they hope to have soon on Xbox and mobile platforms.

Freshman Josh Myers and sophomore David Pugh were sitting at a flight simulator recently donated to the school. They were excited to say that the class is going to repair some very old computers and set up something like an old video arcade at the school.

Unlike some school districts, LaGrange said Marysville is trying to provide multiple areas where students can learn skills that will help them get jobs, rather than only being focused on sending kids to college.

“We’re helping them find their niche,” he said.