From School IT Intern to Systems Architect with Chris Thomas

K-12 IT veteran Chris Thomas joins The PowerShell Podcast to share his 26-year journey in educational technology, from a high school IT internship to becoming an Endpoint Cloud Systems Architect supporting multiple school districts in Michigan. Chris discusses how PowerShell helped him automate identity management, investigate network incidents, and streamline large-scale IT operations across complex school environments.
The conversation also dives into mentorship, Don Jones’ influence through Be the Master, the value of community involvement, and the mental health challenges IT professionals face. Chris shares practical lessons on automation, presenting at conferences, overcoming imposter syndrome, and how putting yourself out there can open doors throughout your career.

Key Takeaways:
• PowerShell fundamentals unlock huge opportunities — learning commands like Get-Command, Get-Help, Get-Member, and Get-Module can help you explore and automate almost anything.
• Automation is essential in resource-constrained environments like K-12 IT where staff wear many hats and must support large systems with limited manpower.
• Community participation accelerates growth — presenting, attending conferences, and contributing scripts can build confidence, connections, and career momentum.

Guest Bio:
Chris Thomas is an Endpoint Cloud Systems Architect supporting multiple K-12 school districts in Michigan through a regional educational service agency. With more than two decades of experience in educational IT, Chris focuses on automation, endpoint management, and infrastructure architecture. He is an active contributor to the Michigan K-12 technology community, regularly presenting at conferences such as MAEDS and MMS/MOA, and sharing PowerShell scripts and tools through his GitHub projects.

Resource Links:
Chris Thomas GitHub – https://github.com/chrisATautomatemystuff

Connect with Andrew - https://andrewpla.tech/links

PowerShell App Deployment Toolkit – https://psappdeploytoolkit.com

Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches – https://www.manning.com/books/learn-powershell-in-a-month-of-lunches

PDQ Discord – https://discord.gg/PDQ

MAEDS Conference – https://maeds.org

MMS / MOA Conference – https://mmsmoa.com

The PowerShell Podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/k4n6FWzDPUk