EduConcierge: More Than Just a Cart!

Marina Stuart and Matt Rinaldi

Staff Writer and Guest Writer

You may have noticed Senior Jeff Kessler pushing a giant computer cart in front of him through the halls of SLA in recent weeks, as he stocked up for his second year of EduConcierge.

The unique enterprise “helps people get around Philly and provides a way to provide tokens and just about everything else to make their life at the conference easier,” Kessler said, describing EduConcierge’s goal.

This was the second year Kessler made EduConcierge work. Originally conference goers needed someone to help with their travel arrangements.

As he began to help them, he saw a larger opportunity to help.

“I was sitting in the college office and thinking ‘this needs to be streamlined’ and I made a diagram, that included everything.”

Even the name makes sense, as Kessler is like the concierge service at a hotel, from scheduling people’s flights to giving restaurant suggestions and picking up people at the airport.

One thankful Educon goer told Kessler via Twitter: “Thanks for your help! You know your stuff…made our trip back to the airport a breeze. What a difference 1 person can make!”

As the program grew, parents and Kessler stepped up to help. “One of the most important things we do is boarding passes, we now print them for every single person who is flying somewhere.”

However, next year might be a little different. This year, EduConcierge is Kessler’s capstone, otherwise known as his senior project. Once Kessler graduates in June, it will be run by a group of students that Kessler trained over the course of Educon this year. The group included Freshmen Nikki Adeli and Dylan Long and Sophomores Jhonas Dunkain and Matthew Marshall.

“Jeff Kessler told me about the program and recruited me to be Assistant Concierge for this past EduCon,” Said Adeli. “It was training to become Chief Concierge for the upcoming EduCons.”

Even though this was her first Educon, she is excited about it and working more next year.

“It has been A LOT of fun! It’s gratifying to see many different educators come to SLA from all across continent to talk about making education and how to make learning for kids and teens (like me) a better experience not only in but also out of school.”

Any one from Educon can tell you how important the conference is and how much innovative thinking gets done there. It is something SLA prides itself in, and making it easier to travel to is vital to its continued success.

Adeli emphasized that student involvement is key.

As SLA students, we should all take advantage of all the resources and experiences we are allowed to have because most other schools don’t have these kinds of activities for their students to part take in.”

Educoncierge is year was so intriguing that some teachers and students of Science Leadership Academy collaborated to create a theme song for EduConcierge. The song was written by Internship Coordinator Jeremy Spry, former Librarian Josh Newman, and the lyrics by Senior Whitney Washington.

The chorus? “Educon — it’s more than just a cart.”