A student a Montevallo High School is continuing to make a name for himself in the field of technology.  Earlier this year, MHS senior Wezley Sherman was selected as the U.S. 7^th Congressional District’s representative in the House Apps Challenge, a contest for high school students seeking to share and submit ideas and innovations to possibly be used in future technological applications and contexts. He was recognized in person by Congressman Spencer Bacchus and endorsed for the nationwide competition.

Since then, Sherman has entered other competitions, including Intel’s nationwide contest for tech applications used to help other people with various daily functions, functions that most people take for granted https://realsenseappchallenge.intel.com/landing/.  Wezley created an application that responds to body motions, even the blink of an eye, which helps children and other individuals with severe disabilities and inabilities to use their arms, hands, or fingers, even those who do not have arms and/or legs.

Sherman’s application allows individuals to directly engage and use a computer-based learning program to develop math and reading skills. Since entering the contest, Wezley has been notified by Intel that he is a finalist in the contest, which includes contestants from around the nation at all levels of education, including college students.

In addition to the Intel contest, Sherman was recently notified that he won another very prestigious contest in which he entered a few months ago, called “Dream It. Code It. Win It.” http://dreamitcodeitwinit.org. This contest is sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute for Technology, better known as MIT, a highly prestigious institution where many of the greatest minds in math and technology have earned their degrees and educations over the years. The contest committee has invited Sherman to the awards ceremony, which will be held in New York City on April 30.

On Monday, April 27, Sherman had the opportunity to meet with representatives from CodeHS, a program division of Stanford University that designs computer science and coding courses for high school curricula.  Shelby County began offering the CodeHS online course to several students throughout Shelby County at the start of this school year, including Sherman.  He was invited to share insight and suggestions to the Code HS team, as well as his current work in the field of technology. The team was so impressed with Wezley’s work and resume, they decided to visit him later that afternoon to conduct a profile/bio to feature him as an exemplary student in their program.

“We are extremely proud of Wezley and his accomplishments! He is a bright and shining star, and will continue to grow because he has the passion, dedication, and work ethic it takes for continuous growth and success.” said Dr. Wesley Hester, principal at MHS

After graduation, Sherman will be headed to Arizona State University on scholarship. While attending ASU he hopes to have opportunities for internships at world-class tech organizations, such as Intel and Google.