10-03-2025
Feel Good Friday: AI is heling students in Elva-Strum
ELEVA, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – A new AI pilot program is taking off at Eleva-Strum and it is getting g some kids excited about math. Allie Gorman, Eleva-Strum Elementary School 4th grade teacher says, 'AI is not your friend but rather just like a tutor or a helper, or a teacher.'
4th-grade math looks a bit different at Eleva-Strum. First, they start old school, talking through equations in random groups of 3. Then, moving to Khan Academy on their tablets. Gorman explains, 'Today they were working on a fraction problem, and this is where we target that deeper level of thinking. It's self-paced, so, they can move as fast or slow through the material that they need.'
Student Alivia adds, 'My teacher is always walking around and helping us. But then having AI, we don't always have to raise our hand. So that way we can just immediately ask and get the answer back.'
Flexing a muscle, they will likely use in the future. Eleva-Strum District Administrator Cory Kulig says, 'We're living in an age where emerging technology is changing so rapidly. So, I think from a school perspective it's important for us to expose them to that. Because the future job market is going to rely on their ability to adapt, to innovate, to problem-solve. To solve those real-world challenges that they will face.'
Getting them very excited about fractions. Kulig adds, 'It's just really inspiring to see the conversations, the collaboration, the teamwork, the resilience, the grit that those students were showing so that was really exciting.'
These 4th graders are the youngest in the district to use AI for learning. Alivia says 'In the future, I'm going to have to use AI a lot I know. In jobs and stuff you probably use AI. It's nice already knowing how to use it before I have to do it in more important stuff.'
Miss. Gorman reminds students that it's not a friend but a change. Gorman says, 'At the beginning of this, one of my huge things was, if we were to hide this from them and guard this from them, and overprotect them now, that's not going to equip them for the future. In order to equip them for the future, we need to give them an access point and show them how to interact with AI in a healthy way and what all the norms are around them. Just building future-ready learners out of it.'
The program started about a month ago and is used in grades 4 through 12. Those involved say this is just the beginning of their AI teaching journey.
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