Ridgewood students innovate with AI reading tool

Seven students from Ridgewood High School in West Lafayette presented their project, Reading Reimagined, on March 20. Only four school districts in Ohio are offering the Al for Youth course designed by Intel this year and Ridgewood high School is one of them.

Addison Lahmers, Bridget Kobel, Sophie Paugh, Keira Schrock, Autumn Joyce, Sophia Bluck and Kenzie Bice demonstrated how they developed Reading Reimagined, a tool designed to help young children improve reading skills. The program allows students to create personalized stories, while teachers can track progress through quizzes and automatically generated fluency scores.

Supported by AI OWL and Intel, Ridgewood launched its first AI for Youth course using curriculum adapted from Intel’s program, said instructor Lester McCurdy. He said the class began by identifying a real-world problem.

McCurdy said, “We thought about the problem of reading in the school districts, how there is a struggle, and we wanted to address that problem.”

Students conducted interviews and gathered data before designing a solution. McCurdy said the group showed strong initiative and collaboration throughout the process.

“They just dove in headfirst and took off,” he said. “They had learning jumps that don’t normally happen in a classroom.”

McCurdy said the class will continue next year, depending on student interest.

Other students may explore topics such as AI and drones, he said, adding that future projects will vary based on students’ skills and interests.

Overall, the project aims to improve reading comprehension by allowing children to create customized stories. The platform supports multiple languages, including English, Spanish and Arabic, to better serve diverse classrooms.

The program also includes features such as reading levels, vocabulary support and interactive tools. Students can track their progress, access reading buttons and view detailed results. Once a book is completed, users receive feedback on reading level and additional performance data.

The ladies recently returned from Washington, D.C., where they presented Reading Reimagined to Senator Jon Husted, Representative Troy Balderson, and the White House staff.

On March 20, prominent guests at their local presentation included Director Stephen D. Dackin and members of the senior leadership team from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.

Dackin admired what the students have done. "Thank you for allowing us to be here. These students have credentials they can take through life."