AI in Appalachia: aiEDU’s summits head to southeast Ohio
WINTERSVILLE, Ohio — Educators and innovators from across Southeast Ohio gathered for two inspiring days of collaboration and discovery at the 2025 Southeast Ohio AI Summit, hosted by aiEDU: The AI Education Project.
The back-to-back events in Wintersville and St. Clairsville brought together hundreds of educators, administrators, and ESC leaders to explore how schools can lead the charge in preparing students for an AI-powered future.
Opening remarks on May 7 featured local leaders including Chuck Kokiko (Jefferson County ESC), T.C. Chappelear (Indian Creek Schools), Craig Burford (OESCA), and Chris Woolard (Department of Education and Workforce), setting a tone of urgency and opportunity. The following day, Randy Lucas (East Central Ohio ESC) joined Burford and Woolard again to reinforce a consistent statewide message: Ohio’s educators have the power—and the responsibility—to shape AI readiness for the next generation.
Keynotes by Rebecca Bultsma, Eric Curts, and Pati Ruiz spotlighted both vision and practicality. Curts, an EdTech coach and nationally recognized speaker, emphasized that “AI isn’t about replacing teachers—it’s about amplifying what they do best.” His sessions showcased free, teacher-friendly tools like Brisk, SchoolAI, and MagicSchool that help educators personalize instruction, monitor student writing, and even generate quizzes, lesson plans, and chatbots on the fly.
Breakout sessions offered hands-on, classroom-ready insights. In “AI and Academic Integrity,” aiEDU’s Wren Hoffman challenged educators to move beyond the fear of cheating and embrace AI as a catalyst for authentic learning. Meanwhile, Amberly Evans and Jay Stansell of Find Your Grind delivered high-energy sessions on AI-powered career development, helping schools reimagine what future-readiness really looks like in a rapidly evolving job market.
Other highlights included:
Johnna Provenzano from Indian Creek Schools encouraging teachers to integrate AI into the learning process, not just the final product.
A lively “AI Like a Boss” workshop helping educators test tools, build skills, and even decode Gen Z slang with help from AI.
Student-led insights from Ethan Knotts, Gabby Herlocher, and the AI OWL team—showing what it means when students become leaders in AI literacy.
On Day 2, sessions like “Beyond Words” with Leslie Charles of Muskingum Valley ESC brought creativity into focus, using AI image generation to help students visualize complex vocabulary. In “Concept to Curriculum,” presenters tackled AI bias, data privacy, and ethical use—arming teachers with strategies to keep classrooms both current and principled.
