Rural AI Success: How a Small Indiana School District Actually Implemented Khanmigo

EP 45

School's Out Saturdays on the AGI Podcast - The most important conversation with the people shaping tomorrow one lesson at a time. Where educators of all kinds join Jason Padgett to explore preparing students for 'their tomorrow' not 'our yesterday'

Episode Summary: While big school districts debate AI policy, Rensselaer Central Schools in rural Indiana quietly achieved a 92% student activation rate with Khanmigo. Hunter Hickman explains how his small district moved fast, kept parents on board, and turned teachers into coaches instead of lecturers.

Guest Hunter Hickman, AI Implementation Lead at Rensselaer Central Schools | 7th-year ELA teacher | Head wrestling coach | Leading district-wide AI rollout in one of Indiana's most rural counties

Guest Links

Hunter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunter-hickman-2b501383/

Rensselaer Central High SchoolWebsite: https://rchs.rensselaerschools.org/

Related Tools & Platforms

Khanmigo: https://www.khanmigo.ai

Magic School AI: https://www.magicschool.ai

SchoolAI: https://www.schoolai.com

Key Timestamps:[02:15] - How a rural Indiana school beat bureaucracy and launched AI in under a year[08:30] - Why telling kids "don't use AI" puts them behind before they start working[12:45] - Khanmigo Writing Coach: Real-time feedback that actually improves student writing[16:20] - Teachers as coaches, not lecturers—the shift AI is forcing in classrooms[21:40] - Why foundation models like ChatGPT don't belong in K-12 classrooms[27:15] - The uncomfortable truth about kids, emotional intelligence, and AI relationships[32:50] - Rural schools vs. urban districts: Why one-size-fits-all AI policies fail students[38:10] - Starting small: Two AI tools every teacher should try first[43:25] - Anthropic's AI Fluency course—the best free foundation for teachers[48:30] - Character AI and teen mental health: Why schools need guardrails now[52:45] - The Anxious Generation parallel: What we learned from smartphones applies to AI[56:20] - Conservative doesn't mean anti-progress: Indiana schools need to catch up

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