Lakewood Creek Students Meet Lawmakers in Springfield

What did you do last Wednesday?

Whatever it was, chances are it wasn’t as cool as the way Kaitlin Freundt and Cullen Ainsworth spent their day. These two 5th graders got to talk about technology at the state capitol building in Springfield, and they got to meet House Minority Leader Tom Cross and State Rep. Kay Hatcher in the bargain.

Freundt and Ainsworth are part of Lakewood Creek’s Coyote Tech Club, an after-school program for 4th and 5th graders run by teachers Sara Meyer and Ann Lutz. Students in the club get hands-on experience with creative software like Comic Life, which lets you create comic-book-style slideshows with sound, and Animoto, which lets you do the same with animation.

Meyer said the goal of the club is to help students become ambassadors, teaching that technology to others at Lakewood Creek and beyond. They even have a name for what they’re doing: “Creating a Community of Learners.”

That was the title of the presentation Freundt and Ainsworth helped design for the Tech 2012 event at the capitol last Wednesday. Tech 2012 is something of a science fair – the Lakewood Creek students were there with representatives from about 70 other schools around the state, Meyer said – and it’s organized by Illinois Computing Educators.

The Coyote Tech Club had to submit a proposal for inclusion in Tech 2012, and they were chosen from applicants all over the state. The purpose of Tech 2012 is to show legislators the importance of technology education in schools, according to the ICE's website.

Ainsworth and Freundt were chosen as ambassadors They set up a booth in the capitol building and talked about the club, and the creative things they’ve done. (You can see some of their projects here.) And then they got to meet their local legislators, Cross and Hatcher.

Freundt admits she was a little nervous, and Ainsworth said it was “cool meeting someone so famous.” They both marveled at the size of Cross’ office, and were awed by the capitol building itself.

Both students said they love the creativity they’re expressing in the Coyote Tech Club. Even in 5th grade, they’re thinking about their futures – Ainsworth wants to be a professional baseball player (he plays catcher now), and Freundt wants to be a marine biologist.

Wherever their paths take them, though, they’re unlikely to forget their trip to Springfield, and the lessons they’re learning at Lakewood Creek.