The Wyoming that Christian Mascarenas will grow up in is bound to be very different from the Wyoming today's children are living in.

Christian, Natrona County's first baby of 2009, was born at 2:58 a.m. on January 1. When he turns 18, the year will be 2027.

What will Christian's world look like?

"I don't think that, at least for Wyoming, our core values will be any different 18 years from now," said Bill Schilling, the director of the Wyoming Business Alliance. "Core values being a fierce independence, caring for your neighbor, smaller communities, a high level of support for education."

Schilling said it's hard to predict where Wyoming will be in 18 years, but that the future looks bright for Christian and other children born in 2009.

The Hathaway Scholarship is just one of the things Christian can look forward to, Schilling said. In addition, the state Legislature has worked hard to make Wyoming a better place, he said.

"Imagine the best education state, the best infrastructure state," Schilling said. "In other words, a state that established visions for the state and maintained them."

As Christian makes his way through elementary, middle and high school, Natrona County School District will have a series of skills he'll be expected to demonstrate, such as digital literacy, independent life-long learning and effective communication.

Christian will still need the three 'R's' though-reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic.

"You're still going to have to care for the basics," said Mike Pickett, the principal of Roosevelt High School. "Reading is the key to everything. If those little guys can't read at grade level by third, fourth grade, they're doomed."

Christian probably won't have the traditional learning materials students have now. Pickett imagined future students will have computerized desks, and smaller classes of eight to 10 students.

"I don't think the classroom as we see it today will exist in 25 years," Pickett said. "It's going to be different, I tell you what."

Even the career Christian decides to pursue will probably be something no one has heard of yet, said Toni Decklever, the director of SkillsUSA Wyoming.

"The jobs that we know today will probably not be in existence when our children graduate from school," Decklever said. "We have to be prepared to teach them the new things…and yet it's difficult, because we don't even know what those are going to be."

Decklever also visualized a totally different classroom in Christian's future, thanks to the fast-growing dependence people have on computers and digital information.

"They're going to be carrying computers, rather than textbooks," she said.

The only problem with such a focus on using technology to communicate and learn is a break-down of social skills, Decklever added.

"You're able to do a lot of things in the comfort of your own home," she said. "We still have to be able to communicate, not just through phones. I think it's still going to be really important to be able to work together as people."

Christian's parents, Danna Mascarenas and Phillip Fenstermacher, said it's hard to picture what the future holds for their son.

"I really want him to be happy," Mascarenas, 19, said. "Just completely involved with his family, and his community."

"There's so many changes already coming this year," Fenstermacher, 20, said. "I can only imagine what's going to happen in 18 years."

Reach education reporter Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at Jasa.Santos@trib.com.

Watch the proud parents and baby 12 hours after his birth in the video below by Star-Tribune videographer Dan Craig.