Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

The Tech Deck

Glover Middle School’s Discovery Days

I got to speak to a bajillion middle school students at Glover Middle School's Discovery Days today about web development and digital journalism. I forgot what it was like to be a 7th grader.

Favorite parts:

1. When I mentioned that video game programmers turn into cave trolls because they work excessively long hours and never see the sun, a chatty young lady asked me "Is that why you're so white?"

2. After all of the pimply 7th grade computer nerds left one of my "Web Development" intros, the room had a seriously sweaty nerd dude smell. One of the girls (might have been the same girl as above) walks in and says "It smells like Burger King in here."

3. There was one kid who knew waaaaay too much about stuff. Like when and where and why Notch created Minecraft and how it ended up with Mojang, with dates and real names and everything. I was srsly impressed.

4. The realization that every kid in that room was more connected than 3/4 of the people in the Spokesman's newsroom. Facebook was old news, and all the hip kids were on Instagram, Vine, Snapchat and Kik. You heard it here first, unless you're 12.


If you're ever given the chance to speak to a group of kids, you should do it. It was fun.



The Tech Deck