Today I had the privilege of working with some of the 7th graders at Waverly-Shell Rock Junior High.

Learning about technology and its practical applications to their lives and even future careers is about to become an educational requirement at school. And I had the task of kicking off their journey into the ever-changing world of high tech.

Of course I opened with the obligatory explanation of my job - but I know that for a 7th grader, the cool part of the news business would be seeing the studio or a live truck - not hearing about how I built a flash-based timeline.

When I was in school, it was always easier for me to get excited about a topic if I could figure out a real-world application. So that’s what I tried to do. We split the students up into groups and I gave each group a job or career field, then they had to brainstorm ways to use technology in that job. I gave them a lot of freedom. It could be as simple as a cell phone or so complex it hasn’t even been invented yet.

These kids were so inventive - I was very impressed. It was such a simple exercise, but they managed to share advanced ideas like biotechnology and robotics. I don’t think they realized how truly intelligent their answers were and how exciting it was for me to hear them share.

My biggest advice to them wasn’t to go out and learn all about the latest trends in gadgetry, instead I encouraged them to always keep learning and use that knowledge to become a leader wherever they are. Because that’s what technology boils down to. It will always be changing and improving and you can never learn it all. All you can do is keep moving forward and make the most of what you learn.

So to Mrs. Staack and the 7th graders at Waverly-Shell Rock - thanks for letting me share a little bit of my passion with you!

Posted under Education, Web/Tech