By: Abbie Myers and Michel Foreman
Picture this: it’s 1986, and you’re fresh out of college. You never expected to have a career in technology, nor have you ever been focused on technology because you didn’t have the option, and you never expected to work in a school.
As a Technology Maintenance employee and “The Chromebook Guy” at Flora High School, Mr. Lee Melton enjoys his job and helping those around him in being more productive. Although technology is familiar to him, working in education is a whole new experience. He said “my colleagues have been most gracious and helpful,” and “my familiarity and relationships with many current Unit 35 staff members made this a very good situation for me,” when asked on his work environment.
As a former student of FHS, he’s happy to be working with students and faculty of Unit #35 and making a difference, although he admits four minutes between classes is difficult to get used to!
Before working at FHS, he graduated high school in 1978 and went on to SIU Carbondale, where he graduated in 1986 with a diploma in Accounting and earned a CPA certificate in ‘87. Melton has worked in the insurance industry, manufacturing, and healthcare; he also runs an IT consulting and PC repair business in Flora. He feels his field of work is interesting, entertaining, and educational with the added advantage of working with some of the latest technology.
Outside of school, he enjoys major league baseball, high school sports, model railroading, and trains. He spends time with his wife, children, and grandchildren. One day he hopes to obtain his provisional certificate to teach technology classes.