Wade Barnes keeps answering the call to serve. He spent five years in the U.S. Army, then moved to the private sector. He has worked around the world as a U.S. government contractor and in various enterprise IT roles such as senior network engineer and IT director.

After 17 years away, Barnes has returned home to Georgia as executive director of ­infrastructure and support for the DeKalb County School District. Service is central to Barnes’s view of IT administration and security.

An IT administrator should be the ultimate partner, he says, a “quiet warrior” who supports education. He talked with EdTech: Focus on K–12 about IT leaders’ roles in maintaining human and digital connections inside and outside the classroom.