When your dad is a gadget-geek, you become a Mouse, Metrodigi
Today children learn to wield a mouse, operate a smartphone, play games, download music and even code before the age of seven. But even among the most tech savvy millennials, few can say they grew up with a self-professed "gadget geek" dad whose career spans information security, risk management and leadership roles at the likes of Uber and Zynga.
Grayson Spangenberg, a 2013 founding member of the Hall Middle School Mouse Squad credits his rich tech upbringing as a significant influence on his own aspirations and early accomplishments in the space.
Grayson's dad, Ward Spangenberg, is currently the CTO of innovative learning technology company Metrodigi, based in Larkspur, CA. He believes in providing children with access to computers early. In fact, Grayson always had access to a computer and was encouraged to learn Scratch, Python, C++, Java, and Visual Basic 6 and 10.
"For one of his first birthday parties after I saw his interest in computers, I built [him and his friends] a Minecraft server so they could all play on it and build a big world." And while Ward always encouraged technology, his parenting instincts also lead him to put blocks in place. For example, Grayson and his friends weren't able to access that Minecraft server overnight, ensuring the boys slept.
But when Grayson was awake, he was busy. Busy helping others navigate the tech revolution that is just the status quo for him. One of his earliest endeavors was in middle school, when he realized his teachers, while eager to hone their tech know-how, lacked the time to teach themselves new technology. In response to a large backlog of requests and limited availability of staff to support teacher needs, Bob Montes, a technology and computer science teacher at Hall Middle School, launched the Mouse Squad.
Mouse is a national youth development non-profit whose mission is to "empower all students to create with technology to solve real problems and make meaningful change in our world." There are currently squads in 11 U.S. states including California, New York, and Minnesota, and the organization encourages students and educators to start a local Squad for even more concentrated impact.
Grayson, along with two peers, became inaugural Squad members. Following a "trifecta" model, developed by Montes, the students exercised their expertise in a series of phases. In the first level, Mouse Squad members offer basic support. Students graduate to the second level and are empowered to create resources to further help teachers (e.g. creating a Minecraft "how-to" site for seventh grade history teachers and students). In the third level, the most capable students, such as Grayson and his friends, develop and deliver professional development tutorials to school staff (e.g. how to use Google docs).
Now 15, Grayson teaches basic programming skills to elementary students as part of the MVGATE afterschool program at Cove School and Neil Cummins, in Larkspur and Corte Madera, CA. He offers this advice to younger students who may not know how to pursue an interest in technology: "If you enjoy computers, go and find a tech teacher or someone you can talk to and start to learn about it more. That's what helped me; I just wanted to learn about things, about how computers worked and how to fix them."
Mr. Montes and National Faculty member of the Buck Institute and eighth grade social studies teacher James Fester, recognizing the success when students get to teach their own peers and teachers, submitted a presentation, 'The Kids are Alright -- Student Led Professional Development' for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) annual conference. Of the more than 500 submissions, theirs was selected for presentation in Denver this summer and will include a "Stump the Students" segment during which teachers can ask Grayson and his peers how-to questions in real time.
Grayson believes that his dad's career and openness to providing him with access to technology from an early age were invaluable, "As I was growing up, being around technology with [my dad] a lot, really influenced me. It's part of who I am now and what I like to do." Father and son's personal and professionals worlds collided recently, as Grayson joined Ward at the Metrodigi office to rebuild a roomful of iMac's. Ward will also be attending ISTE this summer in dual roles - as both CTO of Metrodigi and as a proud father eager to watch his son's presentation, scheduled for Tuesday, June 28, 4:00–6:00 pm, CCC Lobby D, Table 3.
