Even in today’s generation, technology remains a foreign concept to the average person and even more complex for the tech-savvy student. Many of us look at a laptop and just accept the fact that we will never understand how it works or, even more importantly, how to fix it. But some students thrive on the confusion of others; Ben Weinshel ‘15 has spent the past two summers interning for the Blake ISS Department, spending hours fixing the technology that we all use, but rarely understand.

For whatever needed to be done regarding tech these past three months, Weinshel was the go-to guy. Plugging in and taking out phones, cleaning laptops, and climbing under desks were all included in his job description. “Well, this year we had…somewhere in the 150 to 200 range of laptops, ones that were collected from the seniors and non-returning students and given to the incoming 7th graders and new students. “So, I was doing clean-up…relabeling them, sorting them, bagging them,” Weinshel explains. Working with ISS Director David Boxer day in and day out has been a wonderful experience as Weinshel remarks, “[I dedicated] eight hours a day and five days a week.”

Where his talent truly lies is not just in his exceptional work ethic and determination, but in presentation and writing. Weinshel created the student orientation program for Canvas; a software system that will replace Blake’s Moodle site in the fall of 2016. In Weinshel’s orientation presentation, he explained to teachers Canvas’s purpose, how to use it, and its functions to Blake’s Middle School students and soon Upper School students.  

As Weinshel describes, “There’s a lot of work that goes into making things happen [at the school]. Lots of people doing lots of different things that students may never meet.” Alongside Schmitty Schmidt ‘15, Weinshel and other ISS staff worked for the entire summer to get students ready for the school year, including cleaning and repairing laptops, setting up online courses, and much more. “There’s a lot that happens with things at Blake with people doing stuff over the summer,” Weinshel says with a smile. Weinshel realized how appreciative he is working in a job-like environment. However, his summer experience wouldn’t have been the same if he wasn’t passionate about technology. “It was something interesting. It was a lot more interesting than bagging groceries or serving up food for the summer…I could see myself going into something similar.”

To other students he leaves one last piece of advice, commenting, “Keep your eyes out for opportunities. If you see an email about a summer opportunity at Blake and it’s interesting to you do that. Just keep your eyes out for opportunities. It doesn’t have to be at Blake. If something sounds interesting to you, do it!”