Rural Schools, Real AI: A Teacher’s Blueprint for K-12 AI Literacy

EPISODE DESCRIPTIONRensselaer, Indiana has about 5,400 people, one high school, and a wrestling coach who built one of the more disciplined AI implementation models in the state without anyone telling him to. Hunter Hickman teaches English and coaches wrestling at Rensselaer Central High School in Jasper County, Indiana's most rural county, and became his district's AI lead after a 2024 conference session at the CELL Early College Summit shook loose some bad assumptions about plagiarism and policy.Hunter walks through his own action research on AI and student writing. Kids with AI access ask their teachers more questions, not fewer, because the tool works best when it turns instructors into coaches instead of graders. He and Jason get into Claude for Teachers, the FERPA and DPA questions every district is quietly asking, and why Hunter refuses to let his school get married to a single product, Con Migo included. Jason argues AI is a general purpose technology that belongs baked into every subject, not bolted onto a computer science elective. Hunter pushes back with a case for expertise worth hearing all the way through, plus how his school decided when kids get access to AI at all.ABOUT THE GUESTHunter Hickman teaches English and coaches wrestling at Rensselaer Central High School in Jasper County, Indiana, where he also serves as the district's AI implementation lead. He holds a master's in English and education and an administrator license through Purdue, and in 2025 finished action research on how AI affects student writing outcomes. Hunter now runs Hickman Consulting LLC, providing AI professional development to Indiana schools, and has presented at CIESC, Indiana Connected Educators, Purdue's AI in P-12 conference, and the Indiana DOE AI Collaborative.GUEST LINKSLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunter-hickman-m-s-2b501383/Hickman Consulting LLC: https://www.hickmanconsultingai.com/TIME STAMPS00:00 - Intro and Jason's new AI and the Humans in the Loop project00:47 - Hunter introduces Jasper County and Rensselaer Central02:12 - How Hunter became Jasper County's district AI lead06:23 - The CELL Early College Summit wake up call13:02 - Action research findings: the sequestered writing problem19:38 - Coach versus instructor: rethinking the teacher's role28:09 - Claude for Teachers, Con Migo, and the FERPA question44:34 - Jason's pitch: AI as a general purpose technology47:23 - Hunter's pushback: why expertise still matters57:10 - Mr. Potato Head and Indiana's new cellphone law1:05:13 - Closing thoughts on leaning into AI without losing yourselfCONNECT WITH JASON PADGETTJason PadgettHost of the AGI - Advance Grow and Innovate with AI Podcast Network🌐 https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/CoFounder, Wooden Boy Industries🌐 https://woodenboyindustriesai.com/Chief Solutions Architect, Chakra AI Solutions🌐 https://chakrasolutions.ai/📧 [email protected] PODCAST NETWORKSchool's Out Saturdays: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/Field Notes newsletter: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/field-notesIndiana AI education events: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/eventsAll AGI Podcast shows: schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/networkTOOLS JASON RECOMMENDSMindStudio → https://get.mindstudio.ai/q7n7u5cttkdqRiverside.fm → https://riverside.sjv.io/e1xyBrWispr Flow → https://ref.wisprflow.ai/jason-padgettRESOURCES MENTIONEDClaude for Teachers (Anthropic, July 2026): https://claude.com/solutions/teachersKhan Academy / Khanmigo (Con Migo in audio): https://www.khanmigo.ai/MagicSchool AI: https://www.magicschool.ai/School AI: https://schoolai.com/NotebookLM / Gemini Notebooks: https://notebooklm.google/The Anxious Generation by Jonathan HaidtOutdoor Kids in an Inside World by Steven RinellaThe Daily Stoic podcast: https://dailystoic.com/Indiana Senate Enrolled Act 78, bell-to-bell cellphone law, signed March 2026