TAKING A BIG BYTE:
SPANISH RIVER SOPHOMORE GAINS COMPUTER
EXPERTISE
Published: Wednesday, November 3, 1993
Section: PALM BEACH PLUS
Page: 17
By MARIAN KING Staff Writer
In this technological age, computer geniuses may seem as plentiful as the
computer bits and chips they use.
But to fellow computer buffs, as well as his employers and teachers,
15-year-old Charles Alpert of Boca Raton remains a standout.
The Spanish River High School sophomore is, to the knowledge of the Utah
company that issues these designations, among the youngest Novell Certified
NetWare Engineers (CNE's) in the country.
That means Alpert has completed a college-level training program that
certifies him to install Novell's software called NetWare, troubleshoot for
customers and work out any problems that may arise.
"There are 29,000 CNEs around the country but we doubt that many - if
any - are teen-agers," said Jean Densley, CNE administrator with Novell
Inc. in Provo, Utah. "Our courses are offered at hundreds of technical
schools and colleges, and typically, teen-agers are not taking these
exams."
Alpert merely shrugs off the attention.
"I've been interested in computers since I was 12," he says.
Inspired by former Omni Middle School teacher David Brann, Alpert became
interested in telecommunications and set up his own 24-hour bulletin board
called Short Circuit on his IBM computer at home.
Currently, he offers his network of 650 users some 40 on-line games, 25,000
files and a worldwide messaging service.
"Mr. Brann was setting up a bulletin board for Omni Middle School, and I
used to stay after class and get to school early just to watch him do it,"
Alpert said. "He and Dr. Barry Birnbaum - another Omni teacher - hooked us
into Nova University and we were able to send messages to InterNet and other big
electronic bulletin boards."
The pair of Omni teachers were Alpert's mentors, he says. Howard Fellman,
director of the PC Professor in Boca, takes some of the credit for guiding
Alpert down the electronic highway.
"We took a kid 13 years old who knew nothing about computers and created
a monster," Fellman says.
"We taught him basic DOS in a 10-hour class. We're very proud of him.
He's come a long way since then."
Alpert continued his interest in computers with a programming course at
Spanish River High School, which was not advanced enough, he said.
"So I continued to network with other computer users through my bulletin
board and began to learn more about bulletin boards," Alpert added.
"But I wanted to get into installing software and learn about other
engineering areas."
That's when Alpert signed up for the Novell Certified NetWare Engineering
Training Program through the Continuing Education Department at Florida Atlantic
University. For 14 Saturdays in a row, he took classes from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
and then added more "core" courses and computer electives on
weeknights.
"It felt weird taking the CNE course. Everyone else was in their 20s or
older, but I got used to be being around adults all the time," Alpert said.
His teachers and peers got used to it. "Charles is a good 10 years
younger than most students here," said George Edmunds, director of the
Novell-authorized education center at FAU. "I applaud him. It's really
gratifying to see a student like Charles doing this remarkable work outside of
his own school work."
Alpert received the CNE designation and is working on obtaining the ECNE
designation, or enterprise certified NetWare engineer. As an added bonus to his
completion of CNE training, Alpert was recommended for part-time employment at
Adcom Corp. in Boca Raton. "Charles is a great kid," said John Burns,
accounting manager for Adcom. "He is extremely motivated and acclimated to
the corporate culture with ease. We've hired many students in the past, but
Charles is the first teen-age computer technician we've come across. He's a
great help to us."
Copyright 1993, SUN-SENTINEL
