
"What
do
you
think
Amazon
does?"
asks
Andrew
Fuller,
a
data
center
technician
for
Amazon
Web
Services
(AWS)
to
kindergarten
classes
at
John
D.
Jenkins
Elementary
School.
Students
were
familiar
with
the
name
and
logo
of
Amazon,
and
most
answers
from
students
included
delivering
packages.
Fuller
distinguished
how
AWS
handles
incoming
orders
from
customers
through
their
servers,
and
Amazon's
fulfillment
centers
take
care
of
shipping
the
orders.
He
added
that
Amazon's
data
centers
are
places
where
crucial
information
is
stored.
To
make
a
connection
of
ways
the
internet
has
become
integrated
into
the
students'
daily
lives,
Fuller
asked
what
sort
of
activities
they
engage
in
that
use
the
internet.
Many
responses
included
streaming
services
or
video
games.
He
then
described
the
different
careers
in
technology
such
as
data
technicians,
data
scientists,
network
specialists,
and
computer
engineers.
Stephanie
Terezon,
a
kindergarten
teacher,
emphasized
the
importance
of
the
internet,
stating,
"Without
the
internet,
we
wouldn't
be
able
to
go
on
our
learning
platforms,
such
as
Lexia
or
IXL-or
watch
a
movie
on
Netflix
or
Disney+.
All
those
things
need
the
internet,
and
the
data
centers
give
us
that
internet."
"Data
centers
are
really
big
buildings
that
house
thousands
of
computers
we
call
servers.
Servers
help
the
internet
work.
My
job
as
a
data
center
technician
means
I
make
sure
the
servers
and
the
network
stays
up
and
running.
AWS
is
a
global
leader
in
cloud-based
web
services,
that
means
we
run
a
lot
of
servers
all
over
the
world,"
Fuller
described
to
the
students.
After
his
presentation,
there
was
a
short
activity
where
students
had
to
use
their
critical-thinking
skills
to
find
the
best
place
to
build
a
wind
farm
to
power
a
data
center.
Some
of
the
obstacles
the
students
had
to
navigate
around
were
placing
the
wind
farm
at
least
one
kilometer
from
homes,
away
from
natural
wind
"breakers,"
such
as
trees,
and
far
away
from
any
bird
migration
paths
or
sanctuaries.
Virtual
and
in-person
students
drew
on
their
worksheet
or
whiteboards
where
they
would
place
windmills
for
a
wind
farm.
After
a
few
minutes,
they
took
turns
sharing
where
they
placed
the
windmills,
and
their
reasoning
behind
their
placement.
After
sharing,
students
were
given
the
opportunities
to
ask
Fuller
questions.
One
of
the
students
asked
Fuller,
"How
do
you
work
at
Amazon?"
Fuller
replied,
"There's
a
lot
of
ways
to
get
a
job
at
Amazon,
there's
many
roles.
If
you
want
to
get
a
data
technician
role,
it
would
be
good
to
take
certifications
for
different
computer
sciences,
such
as
hardware
certifications
or
coding
certifications.
There's
many
ways,
but
staying
in
school
is
a
good
way
to
get
a
foot
in
the
door
at
Amazon."
Fuller
was
the
final
segment
in
a
career
series
arranged
by
Terezon
called,
"Kinders
Can
Be."
Each
Friday,
a
guest
speaker
was
invited
to
give
a
short
presentation
and
answer
questions
about
their
career.
As
the
final
day
for
the
series,
the
kindergarten
students
were
encouraged
to
dress
up
in
what
they
want
to
be
when
they
grow
up,
drawing
inspiration
from
the
careers
they
had
learned
about.
Virtual
students
over
Zoom
twirled
in
their
outfits
to
show
their
in-person
classmates
their
costumes
of
singers,
soccer
players,
doctors,
farmers,
policemen,
and
even
a
veterinarian
with
a
stuffed
dog
patient.
Terezon
ended
by
leading
the
students
in
a
chant,
"Kinders
can
be:
Anything!
And
I
can
be:
Anything!"