Small IT on the Moon

“JoJo! Get up! Dad’s shuttle reached lunar orbit yesterday. He’s on the lunar surface now and he’s calling from the video phone.”

“Great. I actually need him right now.” Jojo yelled back, as she started toward the room. In her mind she thought that the stairs from her room to the family room felt like an escalator going in the opposite direction. “Too many stairs!” She yelled.

“Here she comes,” mom whispered.

“Hi Mommy,”  Jojo wrapped her arms around her headband and kissed the top of her halo. “You look great at 4:30am, moms.”

“I know dear.”

“Scott, you made it!” Mother beamed. Taking trips to the moon were getting commonplace for him but it was still a big deal to Jojo to have her dad on a lunar mission. The kids at school thought it was cool.

“I did make it,” he said to his wife. “I’m sorry I missed the kids’ first day of school.”

“She has a boyfriend, Pops,” Erin yelled out to his dad.

“Erin! Did you not have your time with Papa already?  Mother interrupted. Jo Jo screams as she enters the room, “Mom! Get Erin.”

“Erin, leave your sister alone and let’s break down this fort you put together in my kitchen.”

“Yeah, well, without me you chicks would have slept through this call,” Erin said.

He continued, “The fort was an excellent idea. Actually, I’m putting together an expense sheet for all the things that I’ve been doing to keep you girls safe and in the know. Because without me you’d be oblivious.”

“Aw, Erin, man, where is the love?” Dad said. Erin softened up and headed back into the family room.

“Pops, look, your job is hard. And they don’t listen to me!”

“You guys be nicer to my man Erin,” Dad replied.

“Fine. Erin would you please give me a moment with Dad,” Jojo said.

“That’s better Jojo. I can get used to you giving me the respect I deserve around here,” Erin said.

“So, Dad I need to know if you can get the President of eMazzanti to speak at my school.”

“Why?” Dad asked.

“Because we’re split between half of the school being on Microsoft,” explained Erin. “It’s like oil and water. They don’t mix. BJ the Technology guy keeps telling me he wants to fully migrate us to Microsoft but there seems to be a problem with him finding a reputable company that can migrate us on whatever budget they have set.”

“How did yo get involved in this?” Dad asked. “I’m on the student council and we are pushing for more IT classes. Currently, I’m taking Tech Ed., and in order to ensure that we can manage the STEM” (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) we need to migrate to Microsoft.“

Why is a Microsoft Migration Important for the School’s Curriculum 

Migrating to Microsoft platforms is important for several reasons:

• Tools like Excel, Power BI, Visual Studio, and Azure provide real-world skills that are in demand in technology and business fields.
• Microsoft 365 (which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams) allows group work, real-time communication, and easy sharing of resources.
• OneDrive and SharePoint provide cloud storage and file sharing that can be accessed from any device, enabling flexible and remote learning environments.
• Microsoft MakeCode and Visual Studio Code offer excellent platforms for learning coding, from block-based programming for beginners to more advanced languages like Python, C#, and Java script.
• Microsoft Teams for Education allows educators to manage classes, assign work, and give feedback in a seamless online environment.
• OneNote can be used as a digital notebook for organizing class notes, research, and collaboration on projects.
• Microsoft’s platforms are highly scalable allowing schools to customize tools to suit different curriculums, whether it’s robotics, digital media, or computer science.
• Schools can leverage Azure cloud services for advanced computing tasks and educational research, aligning with modern STEM curriculums.
• Migrating to Microsoft tools offers a modern, flexible, and future-proof foundation for teaching STEM and technology-related subjects in schools.

JoJo continued to speak to her dad. “We are quite proactive with courses on the roster like Digital Media, Robotics, and Engineering and Design.”

“That sounds so nice,” Dad said. “Well, honestly the owner of eMazzanti is at NASA on standby for some new backup software that was added for this trip. I can certainly speak to him about setting up a meeting, but that may not happen for some time. He has some pretty good engineers who could come out. I’ll get back to you on that.”

Call from eMazzanti Engineer

A skilled engineer, Kenny, reached out to BJ, who was the school’s IT head. Kenny discussed the budget and explained that typically to migrate a school of their size to Microsoft it would take approximately 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the complexity of its existing infrastructure.

2 months later

A couple of weeks later JoJo was sitting in her Tech Ed class when the students started clapping. Jojo looked, startled, and turned to the door before recognizing they were clapping for her dad. Jojo held up her school-assigned tablet and toasted her friend’s tablet. “Look Dad we have Microsoft. The folks from eMazzanti came through.”