Wentzien posthumously honored by ICCSD

IOWA CITY– Area students can thank the pioneering work of Iowa City Community School District employee H. Troy Wentzien, who led the way in bringing school technology to the head of the class in Iowa and the U.S.
Starting in 1993, Wentzien built ICCSD’s system-wide network, even updating to fiber optic lines, in a process that continues today as nearly all ICCSD schools are lined with fiber optic networks.
At a dedication ceremony Oct. 10 at the ICCSD Education Services Center, colleagues described Wentzien as a generous, energetic and hard-working network administrator with a “Macgyver-like” skill set.
Co-workers shared stories about Wentzien including a legendary trick that involved a remote-control car.
Pulling cable is a time-consuming task cut short by Wentzien who ran some ceiling wires the length of a school building with his kids’ toy. He also helped build the Solon schools’ networking as a volunteer, helping bring the district into the Internet age.
His wife, Kris, is the school district secretary in Solon.