Class Acts Go to Troy Tech : Education: Elite high-school program attracts students who delight in being challenged by complex computer technology.

At 7 a.m., when most high school students are trying to summon the energy to get out of bed, teen-agers at Troy Tech are installed in their chairs, inhaling heady stuff like calculus or advanced computer programming.

It’s another typical morning at this elite magnet school, where the ultimate high is high-tech.

Sharing a campus with Troy High School, the Troy Tech program offers an unusual opportunity for science and technology whizzes from all over Southern California to specialize in the fields they love. And it’s all free, part of the public school system.

At their old schools, many of these students felt bored by courses that were too easy for them. Here, they walk into a virtual candy store of challenges.

Kirsten Zeydel, 16, a junior, can learn programming in four computer languages--four times as many as she could have at Orange High, in whose district boundaries she lives. But in her freshman year, she transferred to Troy Tech instead.

Her days are rigorous: She starts at 7 a.m. with Pascal, then heads to honors English, advanced-placement U.S. history, calculus, Spanish 4 and honors physics. Her afternoons are taken up with track, cross-country or soccer.

In the way she shatters the “nerd” image, Kirsten is typical of Troy Tech students. These are not misfit teen-agers who paint their windows black and stare at computer screens all day. Many are active in sports, music, debate or drama. They also do what one student called “all the normal stuff.”

“I still go to loud concerts, and when parents are gone for the weekend, people go there and crash,” said Mark Eckenrode, 18, a senior Troy Techie.

“We don’t just sit there and study all the time,” Kirsten said. (She confessed, however, that she does three or four hours of homework each night, but added that a balanced life is possible “if you know how to arrange your time.”)

Still, some of their leisure pursuits reflect the unusual, restless intellects of these teen-agers. A recent birthday party for one student required attendees to solve a made-up murder mystery.

But Troy Tech is nothing if not practical. It harnesses its students’ talents for real-life trouble-shooting, giving them spontaneous lessons in the process. Once, when Troy High employees couldn’t catch on to the district’s complex new computer programs, Troy Tech students tutored them.

When hackers from another high school broke into the Troy High electronic bulletin board, Troy Techies designed new computer security systems to protect it. They created a system so the school’s basketball scorekeepers could tally points, fouls and other data by computer. They made computerized stock-market simulations for an economics class.

When the computer system at Troy High breaks down, who do they call? The Troy Techies.

“We’re very cost-effective,” said Jacquelyn Reedy, coordinator of the Troy Tech program.

Jory Prum, 18, spent three years in the school band, enduring what he was certain was a flawed alma mater. For his senior project, he revised the original handwritten music with a computer hooked to an electronic keyboard, finding that the flute and piccolo lines had been written four notes too high.

“Now it finally sounds right,” he said with an authoritative nod, watching as a visitor listened to the new version on headphones. Prum aspires to a career in film or animation scoring.

One of the unusual aspects of Troy Tech is that it does not require its students to be academic whirlwinds. Students need no minimum grade-point average to get in, Reedy said. Instead, they must pass a test measuring their verbal and math abilities and their skill in mechanical, spatial and abstract reasoning.

Troy Tech looks not only for students who are heading to four-year colleges, but also for those who might seek careers in science or technology right after high school, Reedy said. Their senior internships can range from college course work to work experience at companies such as Hughes or Rockwell.

“There’s a basic personality to many of the Troy Tech students. They are often the type who like to take things apart, see how they work and put them back together,” Reedy said. “They may or may not be 4.0 students, but they want a place they can hang their hat and feel at home and respected.”

Half of Troy Tech’s 380 students come from the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. The other half must find their own transportation, and some come from as far away as San Bernardino County.

Troy Techies take their science and technology classes in the Troy Tech corner of campus, then mix with other students for subjects like English or history.

Troy Tech’s students are more ethnically diverse than those at Troy High. Troy Tech’s student body is 61% Anglo, 26% Asian, 7% Latino, 4% Asian Indian, 1% black and 1% Pacific Islander. Eight percent have limited English skills.

Reedy says the school doesn’t have enough funding for a major recruitment drive, but it advertises in Orange County’s Asian and Spanish-language newspapers and sends representatives to a few local middle schools.

At Troy Tech, teachers emphasizes hands-on, practical applications of science and technology. In his integration of science and technology class, for instance, Billy Shih, 15, a sophomore, had to design and build a small wooden bridge that would hold 20 kilograms of weight.

“I had to build two. The first one was really lopsided,” Shih said, smiling. “You could see it twisting. I had to learn how engineers have to take into consideration stress points and how weight is distributed.”

Even ninth-graders acquire practical skills fresh out of the stable: introduction to computer technology teaches them how to wire computer hardware circuitry. By the course’s end, they can build and unbuild the guts of a basic computer.

“This is essentially the same course I teach at Fullerton College,” said instructor Ron Garland. “My kids go off to four-year colleges, and they come back and tell me, ‘It’s easy. We already know all this stuff.’ ”

David Vasquez, 15, a freshman in Garland’s class, said he was bored with the offerings in his middle school in Anaheim. “Everything was too easy,” he said, and he tried his mother’s patience by prying apart every radio and video game in the house. Vasquez said he is much happier at Troy Tech.

“It’s interesting,” he said. “Everything is so interesting here.”

What Is Troy Tech?

Orange County’s high-technology magnet program for high school students is located on the campus of Troy High School in Fullerton.

Open to students from all districts and all counties.

380 students this year, half from Fullerton Union High School District.

Students commute from Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Now in its seventh year of operation.

Began with a three-year state grant; now supported by state allotment money, district funding and private donations.

61% white; 26% Asian; 7% Latino; 4% Asia Indian; 1% black; 1% Pacific Islander.

About 8% of the students have limited English skills.

Source: Troy Tech; Researched by CATHERINE GEWERTZ / Los Angeles Times