Brandon Wees poses with his grandfather, Mel, who helped him design and build the kiosk.
and install it. At Pine-Richland High School, Alec Muchnok assisted him with the programming and Brandon’ s grandfather, Mel Wees, helped design and build the kiosk in his woodshop.
The visitor kiosk is equipped with two interactive touchscreens providing information about Eden Hall including history, architecture and more about the green-school concept design.“ It really helps visitors learn more about the school,” says Brandon.“ There’ s also interesting information about the school’ s first principal, Robert Cooper, and a nursery for plants that are native to Pennsylvania in the back of the kiosk.”
Brandon’ s parents agree that their son has learned a great deal in completing this project.“ He has gotten a real-life perspective on planning and carrying out an independent project, and his organizational skills have been sharpened in addition to his ability to adapt and modify his plans when there are not enough funds within a budget,” says his mom.“ We are so proud of his ability to head back to the drawing board each time he had to make a change, and enjoyed sharing in his excitement throughout the project. We couldn’ t be more enthusiastic about what Brandon has accomplished and look forward to what he will build / create next.”
The kiosk was officially installed and operating on Nov. 11, 2016— Brandon ' s birthday.
Brandon hopes to become a professional programmer and start his own computer business that would create single-board computers.“ This means an entire computer would exist on a single circuit board,” he explains. Following his high school studies, he wants to go to Carnegie Mellon University to pursue his passion.
For more information about Chatham University Eden Hall Campus and K-12 school programming, contact Kelly Henderson, Eden Hall K-12 Education Coordinator, at khenderson @ chatham. edu or 412.365.2416. For more information about the Pine-Richland Opportunities Fund, visit prof-fund. org. ■
Wees with Eden Hall Upper Elementary Gifted Education teachers( L-R) Jennifer Kopach and Joanna Sovek.
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