One man. At least one hundred pupils. One app. One hundred and forty characters.

     On September 10, senior Rylan Deer hosted an instructional class to the parents of NHS students on the basics of how to effectively use Twitter.

     Boasting a Twitter follower count of 1,242, Deer considers the social media site to be more than a time wasting app, but a useful tool.

     “Unlike other social media, where connection is just a two way street, Twitter is more of a free for all of information,” Deer said. “It’s a great tool for collaboration and sharing your work.”

     Deer’s instruction in the ways of the social media site started in Don Wettrick’s Innovations class.

     “It’s a part of our class,” Wettrick said. “[Deer] helped co-teach to do a variety of things of trying to get quality followers and practice Twitter etiquette. He actually had some tips I didn’t have. He made himself an expert.”

     Practicing what he preaches, Deer collaborated and shared with authors and artists over Twitter in the writing of his first full theatrical play, to which he credits a measure of his success. In a way, the connections Deer nurtured are similar to those which are utilized in Wettrick’s Innovations class, says Wettrick.

     “There has never been an easier way to connect faster,” Wettrick said.

     After hearing of the success of Deer on Twitter, Craig McCaffery, assistant principal at Noblesville High School, pitched the idea for the same curriculum, only for parents.

     “In the past, parents have been generally more knowledgeable and experienced than their children,” McCaffery said. “Now, with the Internet, that isn’t always the case. Parents need to be able to keep students safe, give advice when needed.”