Student Project 2020 – Building A Computer

December 21, 2020
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This is a story of one of our students, Simon, who has a friend with limited access to technology at home. Simon, with the help of his friend Max, wanted to build him a computer of his own for his birthday. He purchased the parts from an electronics store and built the computer in the lab from an empty shell. Our agreement was that if we supplied him with the space, tools, and time to build the computer, he would have to teach his classmates about the process. This project was completed in the St. Celestine Computer Lab before we received word about the pandemic and began remote learning.

The Story Of the Computer by Simon – On March 1, 2020 I thought of the idea to give back to my friend, who I had known since preschool. Knowing that his family had an outdated computer, and he himself had no computer to call his own, I thought I would build my second computer to surprise him for his birthday. I brought up the idea to Mrs. Gallagher, and she quickly agreed. I also asked Mrs. Gallagher if I could bring along my friend Max since he had great technical knowledge, and would speed up the process in time for the birthday deadline.

A week after, Max and I both went to the tech lab at around 6:40 am. I brought the parts while Max brought some fans he would donate and his own personal tools. When we were let in we immediately started building. Since we started, Max and I would go to the tech lab every chance we got, including using some of our lunchtimes. After 4 hours, we finally had completed the computer. It took us about a week to complete and was ready just in time for my friend’s birthday.