11-Year-Old Shorewood Student Teaches At Technology Conference

(The following press release is from Jack Hayward, marketing director at Trinity Christian School.)

SHOREWOOD — Connor Freeman, a 6th grade student from Trinity Christian School in Shorewood, will teach for the second year in a row at a technology conference in Baraboo, Wisconsin. “THAT Conference,” scheduled from July 29 to August 1, boasts of a four-day conference for “developers passionate about learning all things mobile, web, cloud, and technology.”

“That Conference” has speakers from over 26 countries and industry giants like Microsoft, Garmin, Amazon, Netflix, Google, Cisco, and GitHub.

Speaking of the upcoming conference, Freeman said, “I am really excited to see all of the friends I have made going to THAT for a few years now. I feel pride in my presentation and supported by my mom, Clark Sell (the founder of THAT), software developers that I know, and the rest of my THAT family. It’s fun to show other skills that I have learned and can teach others.”

Freeman, at only 11 years old, is learning C+ and Python coding languages and a leader on Trinity Christian School’s robotics team, the largest robotics team in Illinois, with more than 65 students each year.

Last year at the conference, Freeman led classes that taught students the basics of electrical engineering, including electricity and circuits. This year at “THAT”, he has planned lessons that will allow students to create their own “Scratch” coding games which will allow students the opportunity to learn fundamental coding skills. Freeman continues to be one the youngest speakers at the event.

“I am just so proud of Connor,” said Amanda Freeman, Connor’s mother. “I started teaching him technology when we homeschooled for covid. I also work in tech, and he just took to it so naturally. I started looking for more resources and opportunities. A few years ago, I went to THAT for the first time with work and got Connor a ‘geekling’ pass.

"He proclaimed right then and there he was going to be a speaker at THAT and spoke it into existence. Less than 20 percent of abstracts have been accepted the past two years, and Connor has been accepted both times. He is going to great things. He even jokes that ‘maybe he will put in a good word for me so one day I can be a speaker...like him!’”