Rock Talk

Coding, Community, And A Comeback

• Steve Redmond & Beth VanDyke • Season 1

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0:00 | 30:17

A senior’s year can feel like a sprint, but Jeremy Smith shows how to turn it into a purposeful stride. We meet a student who mixes AV production, revived music culture, and serious computer science chops—and somehow finds time to serve Kansas City by narrowing the digital divide. His story moves from the soundboard to the code editor to the service site, stitching together creativity, discipline, and community impact in a way that feels unmistakably Rockhurst.

First, we dive into the heartbeat of campus culture: Album Club. Jeremy explains how weekly listening sessions become thoughtful critiques and how student-led showcases like Battle of the Bands and Rocking and Stockings give bands a stage and peers a reason to gather. The club is building a media presence, interviewing performers, and partnering with student news so more voices get heard. It’s a small example with big energy—reviving long-form listening and making room for new talent in Kansas City’s music scene.

Then we pivot to computer science, where curiosity meets real-world application. Jeremy traces his path from early Python experiments to hackathons at KU and a visit to General Mills, where code drives supply chains and manufacturing at scale. With coursework spanning cybersecurity, hardware, and software, plus certifications that matter to employers, Rockhurst’s CS track mirrors industry reality while keeping collaboration front and center. College is next, with a focus on research, building, and finding teammates who want to ship meaningful products.

Access and mission stay in view throughout. Jeremy credits The Hurtado Scholars Program for opening doors, offering Saturday Academy support, and connecting him with mentors from middle school through high school. That continuum now reaches into college completion and first jobs via compañeros and Rock Connect, reinforcing the belief that talent should never be limited by zipcode or circumstance. For senior service, he’s heading to PCs for People, a national nonprofit refurbishing donated tech and expanding connectivity for families—an elegant blend of sustainability, equity, and hands-on CS.

Looking for a story that balances passion with purpose, tradition with innovation, and music with mission-driven tech? Press play, then share it with someone who believes schools can grow both skill and character. If this resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: which school tradition would you bring back next?

Meet Jeremy: Tech, AV, And Clubs

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Rock Talk, the official podcast of Rockers High School in Kansas City, Missouri, where we explore the voices, values, and vibrant life of our Jesuit college prep community. Hosted by the admissions and marketing team, each episode features conversations with students, faculty, alumni, and special guests as we share stories of academic excellence, faith formation, brotherhood and service. Whether you're a prospective family, a proud alumnus, or simply curious about what makes Rockers unique, this is your inside look at Life at the Rock. Welcome back, everybody. We are continuing our series of mini sods featuring our great student population here at Rockhurst. And today we have a young man that I'll let him introduce himself here in a minute, but who is actively involved throughout many areas on campus, but namely in the areas of computer science and tech. So we're really excited, Jeremy, to welcome you. And why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you're involved with at Rockhurst and kind of any more fun facts you want to share?

SPEAKER_03

Thank you, thank you. I'm Jeremy. I'm a senior this year at Rockhurst. I think first and foremost, I'm a Hurtado scholar. I mean, you know, just I'm so grateful for the program. And I mean, they kind of let me be here at Rockhurst, be here right now. I'm really involved in A V Tech here at Rockhurst, so I'm teching up pretty much any event with a microphone that needs audio. I do computer science clubs, so I'm always coding something. I'm always working on some sort of project, some mostly low-level stuff. I also am a big proponent of album club this year, so I'm trying to get that thing revived, trying to kick off battle of the bands this year, trying to get some promotion going for that. But yeah, I'm involved in a lot of random stuff at Rockhurst that you really wouldn't expect, I'd say, but I mean I just it just pops up, you know? So yeah.

Inside Album Club And Events

SPEAKER_01

Let me uh well coach me up, man. Cause I um and and I don't know if you know this, but you know, I'm an alum. I graduated in 2004, so I don't I don't think you were alive at the time. But uh I just turned 40 yesterday, so it was or two days. What I don't even know. Happy birthday. Thank you. Happy belated for me. But walk me through some of that, you know, because like I told you off air, I enjoy being able to just meet new teachers and different folks to get information about stuff I might have not been paying attention to when I was here. So, album club. Like, what is the album club? What do you guys do in that group in that group?

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah, so album club is re led by uh Mr. Calderoni. He does a lot of the media classes along with English, and we essentially get together and listen to music. We'd like to review it, sort of just you know, look at from an artistic standpoint from like, you know, a more um like entertainment standpoint. Okay. We do we try to do at least one album every week, so we listen to a student recommendation. Um, my recommendation actually one Getting Killed by Geese, easily album of the year for me.

SPEAKER_00

But uh you'll have to check that out.

SPEAKER_03

It's really good, really good. But yeah, we uh do, you know, one or two albums every week, and then we host some events like Battle of the Bands and Rocking and Stockings. Okay, and those are events where student-led bands can come together and sort of you know perform in front of more rockers, kids, some friends from other schools, and you know, even alumni, parents. Anyone who wants to come is invited, you know. And uh that sort of helps album club keep going. We're trying to grow our media presence as well. So um we're doing a string of like mini interviews, or at least we're trying to with different bands, like a couple of the ones that are gonna be performing at Battle of the Bands. Okay. And I mean, really, we're just trying to be more present to other students because right now it's really fun whenever you're there in the meeting, but not many people know about it. So, what I really want to do is increase our social media presence. I want to do interviews, I want to do more, maybe graphics, I want to have kids writing things, you know, and maybe even partner with things like prep news, you know? Yeah, try and so it's really just about trying to get more inter-club involvement, in my opinion, because that's where you really start to see a lot of strength in our uh extracurriculars.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah. Beth, you mentioned this. Yeah. So when when did Battle of the Bands dissipate versus it coming back?

SPEAKER_00

Like what so I think it was post my time at Rockers. Well, not my time at Rockers, my time at St. Teresa's. It was still pretty vibrant. The Battle of the Bands, a a big deal. So well into the 2000s, and then I think like mid-2000s, it kind of dipped out, and I think that was a combination thing of things. I think you guys probably run into this, less kids playing in in traditional garage bands, right? And so finding kids to actually perform, finding kids that are interested enough in music to put on a production like that because it is a big production.

SPEAKER_01

I remember it when I was here. That's why I was, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And so when Mr. Calderone came back to Rock Earth, he's also an alum, kind of from my same era. He loved Battle of the Bands when he was here, and he really wanted that to come back and started album club, and then over the past couple years, they've kind of brought it back, added in some additional uh formats. So your your event, what was that last week, two weeks ago?

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah, Rocky and Stockings.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. That's more like a coffee house style kind of exactly like an open mic almost, and then in hopes to kind of encourage people to then come and try out for Battle of the Bands. Gotcha. One thing I love, I love going to album club. I've been invited a couple times to guest present an album, and it's one of my favorite things because I love music outside of everything else I love to do. And so it's really fun to hear your critical takes on it, your you know, the creative voices, all the different interests. So where Jeremy might like this genre, you know, this kid might like this genre, and it kind of introduces you to a lot of different music. And I love the idea of working with the prep news to maybe doing album reviews, things like that. Uh, that's a great idea.

Music Tastes And Kansas City Scene

SPEAKER_01

That's cool. And I um so I'm quietly a music lover as well, like a a range of it. So there's I'm very interested in that because that's pretty cool, man. What is your favorite genre?

SPEAKER_03

Um, my favorite genre. I mean, there's so, so many. I'm on the internet, and so they've kind of subdivided genres into smaller genres. So, like, I would say post-rock, but I mean really just indie rock, um, stuff like that. I enjoy bands like there's this one band that I've just loved over the past two or three years called Black Country New Road. Uh, they're a UK-based band. They lost their lead singer about it, must have been two years ago by now, and they sort of took a new direction with their sound. But I love them. I love a new band called Geese. Always a big radio head guy, you know, always have been. But you know, I mean, I'm just out there. I just love music, and so getting to participate in album club has been huge for me.

SPEAKER_01

Beth, what's yours? I know I remember we loosely talked about it, but what's yours?

SPEAKER_00

I have a very collectic taste, if you ask anyone I know, but clearly my my top, top tier is Bruce Springsteen. I'm a deep embedded Bruce Springsteen fan. So that's why typically Mr. Calderon invites me to wax poetic on him. But a lot of similar stuff that Jeremy likes. I like a lot of indie rock, Radiohead, a great example of that. But you know, I like myself some Taylor Swift sometimes. So you just never know what my mood's gonna be and what I'm gonna like. In fact, the on Friday, so tomorrow, I'm going to see a alum band from the about all the bands from when I was here.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Called New Rhythm. So it's a it's a mix of people that were in various different bands, you know, back then, but have kind of stayed in the Kansas City music scene and have continued to play music. I'm very still very connected to the Kansas Dic scene and I I still get to see a lot of people that I saw perform here and and see them get to perform like uh New Rhythm being a great example. In the past I've seen bands like Go Generation who started kind of elements of it, the Battle of the Bands, and have moved on and and formed other bands. And so it's it's really kind of fun to be able to see that that love of music starts here but doesn't end here, and people are still very active in that scene.

SPEAKER_01

So I like uh I love and I mean I I kind of geek out about it. So I'm not actually like a live music person. I don't know what it is, like I don't like concerts. I've been to a couple that I'm like, this is absolutely I've been to a Prince concert.

SPEAKER_00

Well, that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01

And maybe the standard the standard got set so high like this.

SPEAKER_00

That could be the problem. That could have been the problem.

SPEAKER_01

But uh, but I I love like listening to music. I've I'm finding myself like cycling back to music I grew up on. So like I mean, everything from like the Eagles, Leonard Skinner, uh Parliament, Stevie Wonder, like as I'm driving to work, I'm finding that more heavy in the rotation, like kind of makes me feel good. But you know, obviously, you know, we man, I just remember my uncles, the stuff that they would listen to from you know, rap to the soul to this. Elton John actually got a lot of spin at our family barbecues for some reason, which is hilarious to me. Like when I now that I'm grown, it's like really funny. But I just appreciate, you know, skill and talent. I appreciate the bravery that goes into that's you know, like when I'm talking about a little band getting up in front of somebody and doing something.

SPEAKER_00

And trying something new.

SPEAKER_01

I love it, man. So cool.

Rockhurst Computer Science Pathways

SPEAKER_00

Well, if it makes you feel better, my Spotify age this year was 66. So clearly, um, although I like a lot of indie rock, I listen to a lot of soul, I listen to a lot of old classic rock, a lot of Motown. So, yeah, you know, Spotify sometimes does you dirty in that way, but I'll take it. It's great music and has let standard, you know, the test of time there. So awesome. So, Jeremy, you're also super involved in computer science, which for a lot of people that are listening aren't probably as familiar with how much that area has grown. Even over my last seven years here at Rockers, the classes that you're able to take now, getting professional certifications in cybersecurity or hardware and software, all the different types of events you guys get to go to. So tell us a little bit more about your activities in computer science specifically.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah. So uh I've been sort of interested in computer science and I was toying with it since like eighth grade, freshman year. I really wanted to make games, which is where I think a lot of interested uh coders start, is for in games. And so I learned some Python, you know, I thought that I had it, and then I kind of just gave up on it. You know, I was kind of moving from hobby to hobby as an eighth grader. Then freshman year, I got introduced back to computer science in our intro to CS course, which was it's been wildly reworked. Like we're working on a lot more right now, but that really kind of reignited that flame, and I realized, hey, I'm good at this, I love doing it. Why don't I keep on pursuing it? And so um originally under Mr. Clark's sophomore year, and then now under Miss Kelch, who's grown the club by so much, I'm so thankful. I've gone to uh Hackathon over at KU, which is where you have 36 hours or something to build an app. I think it was a little more time than that, but we only really had about 36 hours since we're a high school team. You know, we have to travel back and forth. Oh, gotcha. I've done some coding competitions, and one of the most interesting activities that we've done as a club is we went to Minnesota for a trip. We got to see General Mills' campus and got to see how they use uh computer science to, you know, work with global supply chains or uh manufacturing processes. I mean, really, there's just code in every aspect of what they do at General Mills, which is really awesome to think about. And then, you know, we got to see some awesome sites in just in Minneapolis in general, toward the University of Minnesota, University of St. Thomas, and Great Catholic University. And I mean, really, just it's so important not just to practice computer science, but to be around other people who practice it. And I think that Rockers is a great place to do that at and a great place to meet a lot of other people.

SPEAKER_01

Cool. Are you are you thinking about, I mean, it's your senior year. Oh, yeah. So are you thinking about pursuing that in the college or what what where you want to take it?

College Plans And CS Passion

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so I'm definitely gonna be studying computer science in college. Now, a lot of people think about studying computer science in college and they go, oh no, oh no, that job market is dead, or something like that. But I mean, it's less about the job market and more about the passion because I mean there'll always be a I know that there'll always be a place for me somewhere where I can pursue what I love to do. Um, and so why not just do what I love, which is computer science. So I'm planning on going to I've got a couple of Midwestern colleges picked out right now. I'm still applying for scholarships, still applying for some other stuff, et cetera, et cetera.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

But I really hope to do some computer science research and then also meet a bunch of other people who love coding because I really just want to build something. I want to build like something big that I can be proud of. Um, and you know, I think that the best way to do that is in a college setting. So yeah, probably gonna go to like you know, KU, University of Minnesota, Missouri, Creighton. Okay, I will say, as of right now, I do not have any uh in-state schools on my list. So unbelievable. Unfortunately, I'm just joking. I will be able to do that. My uncle's an MU fan too. So, you know, there we go.

Generational Rockhurst Ties

SPEAKER_00

So, Jeremy, you're also what we call a generational hocklet, right? So your grandpa went to Rockhurst. We I say he's our most famous alum in the sense that we get to see him on campus quite often because he loves to get involved now that he is retired and can spend some time on campus. And so Jake Smith is your grandpa. He does a lot of volunteer work with our service program. We see him at Mass daily. So, how cool is it to kind of have that shared experience with your grandpa?

SPEAKER_03

I mean, it's just there's no way to put it other than amazing. I mean, seriously, just to think about the fact that he was in here, you know, I think it was actually exactly 50 years ago. It was, or no, 60 years ago. It's his favorite little uh anecdote to tell people when we first meet him. He goes, Yeah, no, I walked through those doors 60 years before my grandson did. And that's just it's so cool that he's so proud of that, and I'm proud of it as well. And I mean, there's some crazy good advantages to it. There's about a 70% teacher, or 70% teacher, 70% chance that if you ask any teacher or staffer at Rockhurst who he is, they'll know him. Um, which is just crazy to think about. Yeah. Um, and I mean, yeah, it's just I'm glad that he's involved in my life and in like the Rockhurst life in general. He loves it here. He loves going to daily mass, he loves meeting all the different people, all the students. He'll just text me probably about once a month and say, Hey, do you know this person from this class? And I'll go, I've heard that name before, but yeah, I mean, just it's it's it's so it's so great.

SPEAKER_00

He makes a lot of friends, that's for sure, which is great.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

We love having our alums, especially our alums now that have a little bit more time to to come back and get back to school. We love having him back on campus doing things like that. And I agree, it's a really cool experience to be able to kind of walk the same hallways. And your grandpa was part of one of the classes that that moved to this campus, you know. So they got to kind of start it start it out.

SPEAKER_03

He was actually the first class to spend all four years on the Green Lease campus on State Line.

SPEAKER_00

And he was he's told me great stories about m they actually had students moving the campus, like in trucks and stuff back then. So really kind of a great historian for the school as well. So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah. Well, I was gonna one thing I can't imagine what the school looked like down at Rockhurst University. Yeah. Like, do you does anybody have a reference that we can hear?

SPEAKER_03

Father Tezovich's class actually had a picture of the front, and it looks honestly like any like you know, like East Coast high school, or like, you know, you know, there's like giant, like it's just like a giant cube. Okay. It honestly kind of looked like that. It's just a giant front entrance, like, you know, three stories tall.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Looks like any other school, honestly.

SPEAKER_01

I I'm made I could and I'm asking because I'm like, I don't know if Reedy would have like, yeah, I think our archives definitely have pictures.

SPEAKER_00

I'm not sure a hundred percent which building on the campus it was and if it's even still there because Rockhurst University's gone under quite a few changes, you know, since then. But yeah, I mean, I think for a while the campus was in there's like a stone building that faces Troost.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

I think for a while, because we have a lot of pictures of like class pictures in front of that hall.

SPEAKER_02

Gotcha.

Hurtado Scholars: Access And Impact

SPEAKER_00

So I don't know if that was home for a while and they built a new building on campus and we outgrew that. But like I've said, when my grandpa was going to rock arch, it started in eighth grade. So you would start eighth grade and go all the way through twelfth. And so on the old campus. So I think that you know, it's kind of fun to hear those those history pieces, and we're we get them kind of piecemeal mostly from our alums, which is great. And so I know that's something, Steve, you talked about kind of wanting to do some more deep diving on Rock Arch history and kind of hearing from the people that lived it. And I think that's a truly valuable thing.

SPEAKER_01

Because I've always and just for your reference, Jeremy, so I went to St. Francis Xavier when it was still open right across the street. So I my only picture of it is what it's largely been from, I mean, however old how many years ago that was. So like when we hear, oh yeah, the school used to be on truce, and I'm like, I can't even picture where it would be at, but that's that we'll we'll dig into it. We'll we'll get it figured out.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we'll have to co-treat on here, our historian. Okay, so you talked a little bit about Hurtado Scholars, which you know, we haven't actually had Mr. Ray on or Mr. Grillio. It would be nice to get kind of the former director and the current director on to kind of talk more Hurtado Scholars. But for the people at home, do you want to talk a little bit about what the program is and kind of why why you are so thankful for it?

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah, 100%, 100%. So Hurtado Scholars is a scholarship program that was actually spearheaded by Father Bill Sheehan back in, I think it was 2010. So very recently. And essentially it starts in sixth grade, and the whole goal is to bring uh Rockers education to maybe lower income, less opportunity Catholic grade schools. So I went to St. Regis Academy over off of James A. Reed. Me too. Really?

SPEAKER_00

He did some time there too. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03

We'll talk about it off book.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Oh, yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, but um, yeah, so I went to St. Regis. They currently serve, I think it's four middle schools right now. It was only three whenever I was in the program. And they do after school learning opportunities. So we did a lot of math and English with uh teachers like Miss Prater, Mr. Euler back when he used to, or I think his name was Mr. Euler, back when he used to work here, Mr. Shaver. And then after you spend about three years doing after school and summer programming stuff, um, and just you know, learning more about Rockhurst, getting to know people, you come into Rockhurst as a freshman, knowing a lot more and being prepared and ready to go. I mean, they assist you with scholarship, they assist you with like lunch fees, just stuff like that. They really just like, you know, helps alleviate some of that extra attention that can come whenever you know you're maybe like a lower income family coming to Rockhurst. And I mean, they just gave me the opportunity to go here. I mean, it was here, it would have been probably center uh St. Michael's, but I'm so glad that I got to go here. And yeah, it was led by Mr. Grillio, a scripture teacher, for a long time. He was a great director, and now it's uh in the hands of Mr. Ray and Mrs. Wigman, who are both just amazing people, just helping you out everywhere. And yeah, I really wouldn't be where I am today without Hurtada. So always got to throw a shout out in there. That's pretty cool.

Senior Service And PCs For People

SPEAKER_00

And I think I told in our first episode, I talked about what brought me to Rockhurst and what it was was the Hurtato Scholar program because I was at Holy Cross before I was at Rockhurst as a vice principal there, and got to see the impact of that. Uh at that time when Jeremy was going through it, was an after school program. So they go two days a week to Rock You to get extra academic support from our teachers here at Rockhurst. And when COVID hit, we had to kind of change the program a little bit and it became a Saturday Academy and it stayed one since. So they come on Saturdays instead of going the two days after school. And one thing that I I love about the program is exactly what what Jeremy says. It's yes, part scholarship that makes Rockers available to students that maybe wouldn't have considered it in other circumstances. But it's also really a connection maker. I mean, it it gets them to meet people on our campus, adults on our campus, but also upperclassmen that come in as mentors. It makes them feel more comfortable, I think, coming in. The other thing I think that's really valuable is, and we see this in our admissions office, there is on average about a two to three year grade level gap when we look at education in the inner city versus education anywhere else in Kansas City, Missouri. So as we look to Making Rockers a more accessible, more welcoming place. Programs like Hurtado Scholars aim to close that gap with that additional academic support. So actually the boys I think Mr. Ray told me this the stat and I'll have to fact check it with him. I may have another corrections corner next week. But um I'm pretty sure what he said is that the boys end up getting an additional maybe two months or three months of school each year by going to the Saturday Academy in the summer program. And so when you think about that, they're pretty much then in school all year round when you factor those two things in, which makes a huge impact if maybe you aren't getting either the best quality education or access to the most resources to have that that in place. So I'm with you. I think it's a great program. I think we've had great leadership historically in the program, still do. One thing I like is they added Ms. Wigman to kind of work with our boys that are here now at Rocker. So Mr. Ray kind of works with the middle school boys and gets them here. And then she takes over and she uh helps them once they're here navigate things like advocating for themselves with teachers, making sure they're staying on top of their work, thinking about things like signing up for the ACT or doing college applications, talking to our college counselors to look at opportunities because that's a piece that we kind of realized once the program got going and and folks like Jeremy were at Rockers, it was like, oh, there's no support, and we need to continue that support through. And so that's been a great addition. And then last summer they have started a compañeros program that's in kind of partnership with the Rock Connect program that our alumni habits. The Rock Connect is like an alumni networking thing, but Campaneros, it's designed to walk the path and be a companion to our students that are now graduating from college that were in the Hertata Scholar program. So for a lot of those boys, not all of them, but a lot of the boys, they're gonna be the first people in their family to graduate from college. So navigating, job interviewing, like looking at our alumni network for you know, advice, you know, just basic networking skills, things like that. So they've even expanded it now to encompass once they graduate from the program. So I think we're now in maybe year three of having graduates from college in the program. So overall seeing great great benefits.

SPEAKER_01

That's cool. Yeah. I love hearing that and always on board for just young men being successful. Young people, but we're we're here at this institution, and I I love the things that we do to help all of our young guys be successful and and be prepared to go attack life at a high level. So Jeremy, you have talked quite a bit about what you're thankful for here. I wanted to ask you this question. What you know, because we're we're by the time this airs, you will have survived finals. Hopefully. Hopefully, we'll update you if something changes. But uh, you know, with the holiday season, um being right around the corner, man. What what are you looking forward to this this this Christmas, this Christmas holiday coming up?

Alumni Role Models And Closing

SPEAKER_03

Honestly, I mean, for the Christmas break, I'm gonna have to say being outside. As strange as it sounds, like, you know, here at Rockers, the one thing I will say is that I'm not outside too often unless I'm working. And I also just love being in the outdoors, love getting some of that fresh air. I take walks pretty frequently, and uh I think it's gonna be great to finally slow down and you know, not have you know three or four things to do each day and you know, find time to reflect. Uh, I just led a Kairos retreat recently, so I do really believe in the power of reflection, just sitting there with your own thoughts for a while. Right. And I think the winter season is gonna be the best time to do it. But I mean, what I'm looking most forward to is honestly probably senior service. As funny as that sounds. I'm gonna be volunteering at PCs for people, which isn't like one of the traditional senior service organizations, but I actually threw uh a computer science class with Ms. Kelch, volunteered there and loved it. And so a friend of mine, Owen DeConnik and I, are gonna be out there during the month of January. We'll be probably sorting computer parts, helping out in the retail section with people who need computers. And actually, I guess I should explain a little bit more about what PCs for people is and what they do. They're essentially so they're national, actually. They have multiple locations all over the place. And their entire goal is to take in a bunch of old waste technology from companies, churches, anywhere that's updating their technology, they take all this technology, they sort it for them, they see what can be recycled, what can be sold, what can go towards their mission, and then they basically just organize that and use that cash flow from you know selling servers off to other companies or selling their higher-end stuff that you know maybe somebody who just needs to read emails, they don't need that. And then using that to be able to give computers to people in need in the Kansas City area, there's still a huge digital divide divide across the nation. You know, I mean, most people don't really have access to the internet unless it's through a library or other public service. Very true. And so PCs for people's entire goal is to give access to the internet and you know, all the good it comes with to people who didn't have that before. And so I'm really excited to work with them. I think that since I'm from a tech background, it'll definitely help a lot. And it's gonna be a great, it's gonna be a great place to do senior service at. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And do they so do you guys go straight to that coming from break? Coming from break.

SPEAKER_00

And so they'll be in their senior service for about three weeks in January. And there's two reflection points, one about midway through, and then one at the end, uh, where they share their experience with underclassmen. One thing I love about your specific choice is that you've kind of found a way to marry all the things that you really like. So you've got your tech piece that you're passionate about, like that you are coming at it from a very, I would say, ignition mindset of not only caring for our coming home, so you upcycling things and you know, looking at waste, but then also accessibility and and getting it technology in the hands of people that need it but can't afford it. So I think that's uh kind of the most beautiful thing we can do at Rockers is is find young men a path where they're passionate about what they're doing, but they're doing it with a mindset of not just making money, right? Because you know, I think in computer science, you're gonna do all right, Jeremy. I'm not worried about you. But also having that that tint of, okay, what what am I doing to better the world outside of just making dollars and cents, which is important. I'm not gonna say it's not important, but it seems like you're already figuring that out by suggesting this site. And I hope it's a site that we can continue to work with. That's kind of the beauty, uh, Mr. Redmond, of the service program is that how we find a lot of those partners are through our students. So they will have volunteered either with their family or as an individual or with a teacher like you did, and kind of discover these new new partners and give, you know, other young men the opportunity then to give back to those organizations and do something they really enjoy doing.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I love I love hearing it, man.

SPEAKER_03

I will say one thing. I do love how pretty much every uh Rockers graduate or even a lot of the Rockers students that I see and talk to have found that great balance of having a great personal life and also contributing a lot to something that they care about. So I mean you look at like, you know, like Max Kaniger, the founder of Cambies Markets. I mean, you know, like he found a way to, you know, do what he loved and you know live a happy, healthy life while also running a great organization that addresses the food desert problem in Kansas City. And I think that that that's a great skill that Rockhurst teaches. So yeah, just want to say that.

SPEAKER_00

And I will say that that's I think an exciting thing about being at Rockhurst in this time is that a lot of the people like Max that are they're young alumni, right? So they're they're he was our first emerging Hawklet recipient, and they're out there and they're doing these great things, and they're barely out there. Our our most recent emerging Hawklet graduated last year from college. I mean, he's fresh out of college.

SPEAKER_03

I actually know him, Daniel Nugent. Yeah, yeah, he's um actually a good friend of mine. I met him my junior year doing something at KU.

SPEAKER_00

So and he still kind of acts as like a mentor to the computer science program. Yeah, so Daniel, you know, is literally fresh out of college, and so to think that they're already making such an impact at such a young age, you can only imagine what that can be, you know, 20 years down the road.

SPEAKER_01

For sure. Yeah, for sure, man. Well it's been a pleasure talking to you.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01

We seriously, we always love, we always love it, man. You know, I said it on the last episode. This is uh especially this time of year, refreshing. A little break in the day from the from the hustle and bustle, and just being able to hear you and some of our other students just be able to articulate what you're into, what you're thinking about, how your year's going is a blessing. So thanks for being here. I hope you have a blessed holiday.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, make sure to tell your whole family Merry Christmas from us, especially your grandpa. I don't want him to think I'm forgetting him.

SPEAKER_03

Well, yeah, of course. Well, thanks for having me. Seriously. I mean, this is a great thing to uh be running. I mean, I didn't really know too much about it until I came on here. So yeah, I'll be looking out for the next few episodes. So yeah, thank you guys.

SPEAKER_00

You can uh listen on your walks. They're perfect. There you go.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, do it, brother. All right. Well, thank you for joining us. This is Steve and Beth and Jeremy. We're gonna sign off of another episode of Rock Talk, and we'll talk soon.