(From left to right: CEO Luke Schlangen, Sam Woolums, Madie Martens, Sage Iverson, Rustam Kosherbay, Andre Sassine.)
About Abamath:
Abamath works with Minnesota school districts to teach computer coding, video game creation and web design to elementary and middle school kids.
According to Luke Schlangen, Abamath’s CEO, as Abamath expands, it’s targeting more computer science majors to join their team of instructors. “Using SciTech,” he said, “changed how much software development and project focused we could be.”
Once Abamath applied for SciTech and was approved, Schlangen was able to use the SciTech database to specifically search for interns pursuing computer science degrees. Schlangen said that he especially liked that signing up for the program didn’t mean his hiring process had to change. He decided who to hire, which is how he came to find interns Sage Iverson, Ru Kosherbay, Sam Woolums, Madie Martens and Andre Sassine.
When their internship started, Abamath was upgrading from two summer classes to six, which meant the interns would be there to help develop all new curriculum. These classes included:
- A high level computer coding class for middle schoolers
- A high level video game creation class for middle schoolers
- Website design classes for elementary and middle school kids
Getting everything set up to teach these new courses sometimes meant on-the-job learning for the future instructors as well.
“I learned a couple of new languages along the way,” Martens recalled, “because I didn’t know HTML or CSS before. And now I’m able to teach it, so that’s really cool.”
“Teaching helps you become a better student,” added Kosherbay. “When you have to explain something it makes you better understand the material. And now, I feel when I’ll be taught something I will now have a prospective of a teacher as well.”
Moments that Inspire:
Throughout the week, SciTech explored the ins and outs of the Abamath internship experience, their approach to teaching in the classroom and what they learned in return. It seems only fitting to conclude by sharing a few of their personal highlights:
Ru Kosherbay –Computer Science Major at St. Olaf College:
“When I was teaching at Rockford, one of the parents came up to me after the class and she told me she was so happy because her daughter was programming on her own at home.”
Madie Martens -Computer Science Major at Concordia University Wisconsin:
“It was really cool to see some of the elementary schoolers learn exactly how to code. There were moments where it would click and they’d look at you and say ‘Yes! I got it! I can do it!’ Instilling some of that confidence in them is almost like a confidence builder for ourselves as well.”
Sage Iverson –Computer Science Major at the University of Minnesota:
“I have a part time job that I work just for the discount, and I was working one of the cash registers when two lanes down a little kid got really excited, and he goes, ‘You taught me how to code!’ He was one of my first students from my first week so I was surprised that he remembered me. Sometimes it’s hard to tell with kids if, after this experience, are they going to care? So hearing that was really great and it gave me warm fuzzies.”
To better understand the complete Abamath experience, check out
Internship Feature: Abamath and Abamath Classroom Vlog: Learning Through Teaching
Get Involved:
Learn more about the SciTech Internship Program, apply online and create your own meaningful internships that support your company and Minnesota’s growing STEM workforce.