Former BOCES students start business

There is nothing teacher Joe DeMerle likes better than to hear what he has taught his computer technology students has helped to launch them into a rewarding career.

Joseph D’Amore, Ethan Rothfuss and Steven Davis graduated from DeMerle’s program at the Orleans Career and Technical Education Center in 2009.

Recently they paid a visit to their former teacher to tell him about their new venture, their own company Orleans Computer Repair Services.

“We learned so much from Mr. DeMerle,” said Rothfuss. “If it weren’t for him I would not have learned any of this. He gave me such a passion for it.”

Rothfuss and D’Amore continued their studies at ITT focusing on multimedia.

“I originally wanted to go into Culinary Arts,” D’Amore said. “Computer Technology was my second choice and I knew nothing about computers at all. I ended up loving it.”

Davis said he always loved working with computers when he joined the class.

“This program helped me to expand my knowledge even more and when I went to Genesee Community College after graduation it was just natural for me to study support and operations,” he said. “This class prepared me for that.”

After getting their degrees the trio decided to put their talents to use to become their own bosses.

“We just started this company last year,” said D’Amore. “We got an email address crs@gmail.com and a phone number 243-2667 and we can help customers with virus protection, hardware installation, software updating, repair and maintenance.”

DeMerle, who was just recognized by CISCO for teaching their networking principles for 10 years, said he is impressed, but not surprised by his students’ talents and ambitions.

“I always like it when former students come back to tell me of their successes,” he said. “They were great students and hard workers and I am very proud of what they have accomplished. It is very rewarding for me as a teacher to see that what I have taught them has become their life’s passion and provided them with a career.”