Lights, Camera, Learning: Foundation for LPS summer tech camp sparks student creativity

July 30, 2025

Vera and Addie exchanged excited smiles this summer as they scrolled through their checklist of filming questions in a Holmes Elementary School hallway.
 
Where should we set up the tripod that holds the iPad camera?
 
Can we attach an external microphone to pick up more sound?
 
Is this table by the window a good place to record this scene?
 
The strategy session was part of a weeklong script of fun technology adventures at the Spark Middle School Tech Camp. The Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools organized the inaugural camp to give students in grades 6-8 a chance to explore many types of activities. Daily programming about subjects like videography and computer coding took place at Holmes one week in June and one week in July.
 
Addie, who will be a seventh grader at Moore Middle School, and Vera, who will be a seventh grader at Pound Middle School, became fast friends after meeting each other on the first day of camp. They created an idea for a short film that focused on two girls at school. Addie said she and Vera were enjoying coming up with pieces of their video puzzle.
 
“When you’re first filming, you’re like, ‘I don’t know if this will look good,’ but then as you put it all together, it’s really cool,” Addie said.
 
Back in the main classroom, fellow camper Gage was solving a similar type of imaginative brain teaser. He had just finished writing the second part of a storyline called “The Smile Experiment” at a desk, and he was starting to record a scene with a lime-green toy animal. He said he had become more interested in technology through the movie-making process.
 
“It’s just fun to do the certain steps to make the final product,” Gage said.
 
Scott Middle School teacher Mark Danley said it was fulfilling to help students like Vera, Addie and Gage learn how to become filmmakers. He led the tech camp’s videography session and taught the class how to plan, script, record, edit, review and publish their own cinematic productions. Their ideas ranged from a newscast using a green screen, a public service announcement about banana bread and Vera and Addie’s multi-scene movie.

Danley felt it was important to offer enriching experiences like the tech camp. Some campers like Addie had worked with film equipment before, and others were experimenting with storyboards, projectors and tripods for the first time. He wanted them to realize that they could someday pursue careers as screenwriters, sound designers or studio managers if they wanted to.
 
“I like to use the analogy of when you’re young, you have all of the doors open for you,” Danley said. “You can go through any door, and you can make any door a reality for you.”
 
Foundation Director of Engagement Kayla Jacox said career exploration was one reason why the organization wanted to offer the new camp. The group has helped elementary children learn about science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) topics for many years through Spark Summer Learning Camp events. Employees and board members felt it was worthwhile to branch out into the middle school level this summer.
 
“While we’ve been thrilled to serve K-5 students, there still seemed to be a need for summer camps for middle school students,” Jacox said.
 
Foundation board member Guy Trainin said he was “genuinely excited” when he learned the middle school tech camp would become a reality. Trainin, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor, felt it was essential to help students expand their technological and career toolboxes at an early age.
 
“This initiative represents more than summer programming,” Trainin said. “It’s about providing meaningful access to technology education during a critical developmental period.”
 
Campers could choose to attend either a single week or both weeklong sessions. They created their own computer games and programmed drones for aerial maneuvers during the first week of classes. They then produced artworks through coding programs and learned videography skills in week two.
 
Trainin said providing several STEAM classes gave campers a chance to connect with technology in ways that were best for them.
 
“Some discover their passion through coding logic, others through visual storytelling in videography or through hands-on robotics problem solving,” Trainin said. “This approach acknowledges that technological literacy develops through multiple pathways, not a single prescribed route.”
 
Vera and Addie’s movie roadway had already produced many happy memories for them. Vera said she was looking forward to sharing their hard work with other people.
 
“I think it will be fun to see people’s reactions when they’re watching it,” Vera said.
 
Danley said the premiere edition of the middle school tech camp was giving students blockbuster-sized confidence in their academic and social pursuits.
 
“That’s what I love about this, is just the encouraging,” Danley said. “Sometimes they’ll go, ‘Is this a good idea?’ and I’m like, ‘Do you feel good about it?’ Just redirecting things so that they feel like they’re actual producers and cinematographers and all those things. That’s what the goal is for me.”
 
Want to learn more about computer science at LPS? Visit home.lps.org/cte/cs to explore details about classes at middle and high school levels. 
 
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