Beachwood Patch Whiz Kid of the Week Jon Sender

Age: 16

School: Beachwood High School

Accomplishment: Started a business in the seventh grade where he transfers audio and video from cassette to CD, VHS to DVD and vinyl to CD.

Key to Awesomeness: Jon Sender can thank Duran Duran for the business he started.

In 2007, Jon’s father wanted so badly to transfer a vinyl record album from the '80s pop group to CD, but he couldn’t find a suitable copy in any store or library. Jon decided to do it himself, leading to a trip to Best Buy to purchase software that would not only transfer the album, but also get rid of all those pops and hisses that vinyl records are known for.

“We were talking over dinner with my parents and they were like, ‘Ha, you could charge money for this,’” Jon said. “They were joking but I actually took that seriously. I looked into it and lo and behold there were actually hundreds of different websites that convert VHS and CD."

From there, Jon created LPtransfer.com in 2007, a business that grew to transfer not only vinyl to CD, but also VHS to DVD and audio cassette to CD.  

Jon, who just finished his sophomore year, said the business has both catered to and fostered a passion for audio and technology, two areas of interest that also led to his most current venture: podcasting.

Last summer, Jon did an internship funded by the group Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio called ArtWorks held at the Cuyahoga Community College Metro Campus. That sparked an interest in doing his own radio shows once he realized how easily and cheaply he could do them himself.

“You can get stuff that’s cheap and works just as well and still give you professional sound,” he said. “So I decided to get a mic, get a boom and get some software for my computer, and you really have a virtual recording studio right on my laptop.”

Early in his sophomore year, Jon started doing podcasts he called SenderSmash Radio, a label that came from his nickname among friends at school, through the podcasting host website, SoundCloud.com. There he interviews Beachwood High School students for a program called “Wassup Beachwood” and teachers for a feature called “Coffee Talks.”

Last fall, he won a competition for a podcast he starred in and produced where he made a connection between science and art for the Society for Science and the Public's "Speaking of Science" contest.

Jon has also spent the last two years playing violin in the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, an instrument he’s been mastering since he was 4 years old.

He also plays violin for the high school’s Chamber Orchestra and is a member of the school’s Future Business Leaders of America Club and the Stock Club.