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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Valley Times-News is doing a Q&A with all of the support staff of the year in the Chambers County School System. Today, we are writing about Crayton Smith, the IT Support Specialist at Valley High School. We asked him 20 questions, and we included some of our favorite responses below.

With the ever-increasing prevalence of technology in students’ lives, IT has a larger role in schools. The importance of an IT specialist has not been overlooked at Valley High School. Crayton Smith, the IT Support Specialist for VHS was named support staff of the year by his peers for his part in keeping the school running. 

Smith is fairly new to the education system, having only worked at Valley for two years. He is joined at the school by his 17-year-old son, who is in his final year as a Ram. Smith has been married to his wife, Amber, for 21 years. 

What inspired you to go into your field? (Or who?)

My grandfather inspired me to go into my field. My first job was at Interstate-Valley Telephone, where my grandfather was a Communications Transmissions Engineer. I spent 26 years in the communications industry as a Systems Analyst before accepting my role within Chambers County School District.

What are your career aspirations?

I currently view myself as semi-retired and plan on continuing my role in education.

If you weren’t in your position, what career field would you be in?

If I were not in my current position, I would continue to utilize my background within Telecommunications.

What hidden talent do you have that might surprise our readers?

My hidden talent is being a storyteller. I write books under the name J. Crayton Smith and tell stories via video presentations on YouTube for the channel Dixie After Dark.

If you could invite any historical figure to dinner, who would you choose and why?

If I could have dinner with any historical figure, my mind immediately goes to Emily Isabella Burt, a local figure from the Talbot County, GA area. A great deal of folklore has spun up about her since her passing, but on a personal and historical account, I saw many parallels between her and myself. I tell a brief story of her history and the subsequent folklores surrounding her on Dixie After Dark.

What’s the most rewarding part about your job?

The most rewarding part of my job is making students and staff laugh, especially during stressful moments. Even if it is a spontaneous taking over of the intercom system to play silly music, every little bit seems to help.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?

Supporting technology and staying up to date with the most recent developments always presents a challenge, but it is always a challenge I look forward to.

What did it mean to you to be named your school’s support staff of the year?

Being named Support Staff of the Year was a bit shocking, to say the least. That’s a title no one from the technical staff ever thought we’d be considered for. Tech support is usually a position that gets overlooked unless things are broken. It’s not a position that people consider when things are working smoothly. The work that technicians do behind the scenes to make sure everything works properly on a daily basis can sometimes be overlooked and taken for granted, so it was a pleasant surprise to be acknowledged for those efforts.

On a weekend or a summer day when school is out, what are your favorite activities? When not at work, I enjoy a quiet day of reading, research, or writing. Most of my free time is spent writing novels or researching historical accounts for the next Dixie After Dark YouTube presentation.

What is a common misconception about your job?

The most common misconception about my job is that I will know exactly what someone’s issue is and how to immediately fix it when I first respond. The majority of technical issues are unique to the particular device or software being utilized, and a lot of time takes some digging and research to find a resolution. There is no magic “fix it” button that can correct technical issues in the blink of an eye.