Stephen Kaplan, a student in the eighth grade Gifted and Talented Marshwood Middle School, is an expert in many programming or coding languages. These include HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Kaplan is as competent in coding; in fact, he was the keynote speaker last month at the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) Conference at the University of Maine in Orono. More than 1,000 teachers and school administrators in medium and high attending the conference May 22.
"He stood in front of a thousand people ... I know it's not something I'd do," says the father of Stephen, Michael Kaplan.
"After the conference, Stephen spoke with a representative of Maine Apple," said his mother, Lisa Kaplan recalls. "It was a dream come true for my son and a great achievement for him. I'm very proud."
Here's Maureen Martin of South Berwick, science teacher at Marshwood Kaplan. Martin says: "I've had some very bright students, but never anyone as capable as Stephen." Martin has been a mentor and motivator Kaplan, encouraging him regularly to challenge you. In November, she invited him to a seminar scheduling an hour during which Kaplan actually intercepted an error in a line of code and fixed it.
"It was an alternative way to do the same," says Kaplan, who lives at home with his parents and sisters, Ariel, 22, and Toni, 20.
The seminar sparked an interest in programming with several students Marshwood Kaplan at the helm, started a club called Coding after School.
From 1 June Kaplan had written 10 computer how-to lessons for the club titled "Programming Language. Lua" Each lesson covers pages 8-14.
There is an audible note of pride in his voice when Martin says. "Work is extensive and phenomenal coding these lessons has continued for weeks without fail."
Kaplan Lua Lessons are available on Apple iBooks and currently being revised in over 51 different countries ... even including Afghanistan.
Lisa Kaplan says. "I was the first workshop of Stephen did not know anything about coding, and actually taught me to understand that I was intrigued by him interact with children their own age and older, as well as its ability to teach these students.”
Kaplan says he has always been interested in computers, but his fascination with the encoding light until he saw his older sister, Toni, programming when I was in third grade.
"These days, I'm always coding," says Kaplan. "When I'm not coding lessons Lua, I'm coding something else."
Surprisingly, however, Kaplan is not sure he wants a career in programming, but knows you want to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT.)
"I want to do several things, but I have to choose one," says Kaplan. "I'd go into space one day because this is so great, but working with rockets or be a particle physicist would be fun, too.
"I would go to MIT, then at some point travel to Britain and study in London," says Kaplan, who in recent years has taken special summer classes at MIT studying astronomy, rocket design and physical.
Despite what appears to be an all-consuming interest in computer programming and science, Kaplan finds time for other activities. When not at the computer keyboard, which often can be found playing soccer or playing clarinet.
And this school year, Kaplan requested permission for the school to borrow and repair the broken telescope science department Marshwood.
"This telescope was not in the best state," says Martin. "But within a few days, he returned with photographs of space.
"He has incredible curiosity."
Stephen's father says: "We are all very proud of him hopefully what you are doing will lead to something good.”
What lies ahead for him, it is clear that the young computer whiz of South Berwick is programmed for success.
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