Get Ready for the Presidential AI Challenge: Hampshire County AI's Complete Guide for K-5 Teachers

Your students in Romney, South Branch Elementary, Romney Elementary, and across Hampshire County have ideas. Real ones. They notice problems in your classroom, your school, our community. What if they could turn those observations into actual solutions using AI?

That's the Presidential AI Challenge—and it's easier than you think. And it's perfectly aligned with what West Virginia schools are being asked to do.

West Virginia Is Leading the Way on AI Education

Here's something many teachers don't know: West Virginia was the third state in the nation to release official guidance for schools on artificial intelligence. We're not late to this. We're pioneers.

That means Hampshire County teachers aren't experimenting in the dark. You're part of a statewide commitment to thoughtful, student-centered AI education. When you guide your K-5 students through the Presidential AI Challenge, you're answering the call that our state Department of Education has made.

What Is the Presidential AI Challenge?

The Presidential AI Challenge is a federal initiative inviting K-5 students to identify real problems, explore solutions using AI, design and build working apps, then submit them for national recognition. Every teacher who submits gets a Presidential Certificate of Recognition. Winners advance to state, regional, and national competitions, with selected finalists recognized at the White House in June 2026.

The best part? No coding required. No special tech skills. Just real problem-solving from your students.

How It Works: The Big Picture

Here's the simple workflow:

1. Identify a Problem - Your class notices something that needs fixing (classroom rule questions, scared kids during transitions, hard to find lunch options, or something unique to your school)

2. Explore with AI - You and your students chat with an AI tool about the problem, brainstorm solutions, and explore what's possible

3. Design an App - The AI helps you create a specification for what the app should do

4. Build It - The tool automatically builds a working app based on your design

5. Test & Record - Your class tests the app. You record a short demo video

6. Submit - Write a quick narrative, submit your video, share the Poe chat where kids contributed ideas, and send the working app link

7. Get Recognition - Everyone gets a Presidential Certificate. Optionally compete for state/national prizes

Total time investment: 2-3 hours spread over 3-4 weeks. About 30 minutes to an hour per week.

Hampshire County Is Investing in Modern Learning Spaces

This is the perfect time to do this. Hampshire County just opened three brand-new elementary schools in the 2024-25 school year: South Branch Elementary in Romney, Windy Ridge Elementary, and Ice Mountain Elementary. These modern learning spaces were built with 21st-century classrooms in mind—exactly the kind of environment where your students can explore AI and innovation.

At these new schools, you have state-of-the-art facilities. You also have a community that's clearly invested in education and progress. Hampshire County has shown it values giving students the best possible learning environment.

The Presidential AI Challenge is a natural fit for these spaces.

Getting Started: 5 Simple Steps

Step 1: Login to Poe (Free). Go to https://poe.com/AI_Challenge_Helper and login with Google or another option. Your free account activates immediately. Takes 2 minutes.

Step 2: Click "Start New Idea". In AI_Challenge_Helper, click "Start New Idea." The app asks about your students' age level and what problem your class wants to solve. Takes 1 minute.

Step 3: Follow the Getting Started Guide. Check out the 1st Grade Getting Started Guide. It walks you step-by-step through exploring the problem, designing the app, building it, and testing it. We've done the hard work of creating guides specific to how young kids think and work.

Step 4: Build, Test, Record Demo. Build your app with the tool. Let kids test it. Record a demo video (screen recording is easiest—no special software needed). Write a short narrative about what you did and what your students learned. Guides provided.

Step 5: Self-Register & Submit. Visit the Presidential AI Challenge website, register your project, and submit your PDF with your narrative, demo video link, the Poe chat showing kids' contributions, and the working app link. Deadline: January 20, 2026.

What About Different Grade Levels?

Kids in kindergarten through 2nd grade think and communicate differently than 3rd-5th graders. We built separate guides for each.

K-2 Teachers: Your guide focuses on simple, concrete problems kids notice daily (classroom rules, transitions, routines). Apps are straightforward. Kids contribute through discussion, questions, and observations. The exploration process is shorter and more guided. We understand how young kids work with technology.

3-5 Teachers: Your guide tackles more ambitious challenges (school-wide issues, community problems). Apps can be more sophisticated. Students have more independence in the design process. The exploration is deeper and student-driven. Kids can push their thinking further.

Both: The core process is the same. What changes is complexity and the level of student independence, not the workflow itself.

The Most Important Part: Kids' Authentic Voices

Here's something judges care deeply about: Did kids actually drive this, or did the teacher do all the thinking?

When you use AI_Challenge_Helper to explore the problem, you'll chat with an AI about what your students want to build. This chat is part of your submission. Judges look at it to see if kids' real voices come through.

A 6-year-old saying "Can we make it show colors?" sounds like a 6-year-old. A 6-year-old saying "Can we implement a chromatic interface?" does not. Judges know the difference, and they're looking for authenticity.

If you're typing on behalf of students (like "Maria wants to know if we can..."), that's totally fine. Teachers understand how young kids interact with technology. Just let kids' actual thinking and language shine through. That's what makes submissions compelling.

The Poe chat link is your proof. It shows judges that kids participated in designing the app, not that you did all the work and had them watch.

Community Support for Innovation Is Real Here

Hampshire County teachers already know this: our community backs creative, hands-on learning. The Hampshire County Community Foundation has awarded over $10,000 in teacher mini-grants in recent years to fund everything from book nooks to robotics kits and drones. Teachers at Romney Elementary and schools across the county have received these grants to fund projects on executive function skills, STEM manipulatives, and reading innovation.

This matters because it shows that families and organizations in Hampshire County believe in teachers taking risks and trying new things. The Presidential AI Challenge fits that tradition. You're not alone in thinking creatively about what kids can learn and do.

What to Submit (It's Simple)

You'll create one PDF with four things:

1. Your Narrative (500+ words) You write this. Tell the story of what your students did and what they learned. Include: the problem you identified, why it matters, how you used AI_Challenge_Helper to explore it, what your app does, what kids learned, and what's special about your work.

2. Demo Video (Under 4 minutes) Show the app working. Explain why it matters. Use whatever method works for your situation: screen recording with teacher narration, AI text-to-speech, kid voices (if you can record), or just slides with explanation. Privacy concerns? No problem—focus on showing the app works. Teachers know best.

3. Poe Chat Link Share the actual conversation where you and your students explored the problem. This proves kids were part of designing it. Make sure the link is shareable (unlisted is fine, public is fine).

4. App Link

A link to the working app you built. Judges will test it.

That's it. One PDF with these four links/documents, and you're ready to submit.

Why Teachers Love This (And You Will Too)

• No prerequisite tech knowledge. You don't need to know how to code or teach coding. The tool does the heavy lifting.

• Real problem-solving. Kids aren't building random apps. They're solving actual problems they identified.

• Student voice. This isn't you creating something and having kids present it. Kids drive the thinking. They see their ideas become real.

• Flexible privacy. You control how you record your demo. Privacy concerns? Totally valid. We get it.

• Flexible timeline. Spread it over weeks. Do it in chunks. You know your schedule.

• Support when you need it. Questions? Use the chat box on our website. Request workshops, presentations, training—whatever helps. Teachers support teachers.

• Everyone wins. Every class that submits gets a Presidential Certificate. No one is left out.

• Optional competition. Want to compete for state/national recognition? Great. Just want the certificate and the experience? Also great.

Romney, West Virginia: A Tradition of Firsts

Romney is West Virginia's oldest incorporated town, founded in 1762—the very first town established in what would become West Virginia. Our community has a long tradition of innovation and being on the forefront of things.

Now your K-5 students can be part of that legacy. They can be among the first in our region to build and submit AI solutions to real problems. That's not just a school project. That's participating in Hampshire County's next chapter.

Real Example: What This Looks Like

Imagine a 1st grade teacher notices kids ask the same classroom rule questions repeatedly throughout the day, interrupting teaching.

Using AI_Challenge_Helper, the teacher and kids explore: What if there was something that answered rule questions instantly? What would it look like? What would it say? Kids contribute ideas. The teacher types on their behalf if needed. The conversation feels natural and kid-driven.

Together, they design "Rule Buddy"—a simple app that answers common classroom rule questions. The AI tool builds it. Kids test it. It works.

The teacher records a screen recording of the app working and explains why it helps. Writes a quick narrative about the problem, the design process, and what kids learned about how technology can solve real problems. Shares the Poe chat showing kids' thinking. Submits the app link.

A few weeks later? Presidential Certificate arrives. The class learned that their ideas matter, that problems have solutions, that technology is a tool they can use. And their work was recognized officially.

That's it. That's the challenge.

Timeline & Deadlines

• This week: Click "Register Now" to self-register your team on the Official Challenge Website. This ensures you receive notifications and updates from the Official Challenge Team.

• Next Week: Connect with Hampshire County AI for Resources and hands-on Support. We're here in Hampshire County, ready to come by your office or meet at the coffeeshop.

• Anytime before January 20, 2026: Build your app with your class

• January 20, 2026 (11:59 PM): Submission deadline (firm)

• February-March 2026: Certificates awarded

• March 2026: State champions announced

• June 2026: National finals at White House (for selected winners)

Getting Started Right Now

1. Go to https://poe.com/AI_Challenge_Helper

2. Login with Google or another option

3. On the main screen, Click "Start New Idea"

4. Expand the 1st Grade Getting Started Guide (below)

5. Follow the guide with your class

That's genuinely all you need to do to get started. The rest unfolds naturally.

Hampshire County AI - Resources for K-5 Teachers

1st Grade Getting Started Guide

K-5 Overview for Teachers

K-5 Submission Guide

K-5 App Design Examples

Before You Start: You Need Consent Forms

The Presidential AI Challenge requires parental consent.

When you register your classroom or group, you'll access the required Parental and Legal Guardian Consent and Media Release form for elementary youth participants. This form is available on the official eligibility page.

• Collect signed consent forms from families before any students participate in the challenge

• Keep these forms on file per the challenge requirements

• If you have questions about the consent process, email the challenge team at AI.Challenge@science.doe.gov

Privacy & Data Safety: What You Need to Know

No Personal Information in Poe

Students will use an AI chatbot (Poe) to brainstorm and explore ideas. Do not put any personal information into Poe—not student names, not identifiable details about real students, not sensitive classroom information.

Why? The challenge and Hampshire County AI take privacy seriously, anything typed into an AI tool becomes part of that system. Keep it simple: focus on the problem and the solution, not on who's talking.

Example of what NOT to do:

• "Emma and Marcus said our classroom library is too crowded because it's a mess"

Example of what TO do:

• "Some students said our classroom library is too crowded because books aren't organized well"

If your school requires additional privacy safeguards (for example, if you can't access Poe directly), talk to your school's technology coordinator about adaptations—like having the teacher type while students direct the brainstorming.

How This Aligns with West Virginia's AI Guidance

The WVDE AI Guidance (March 2025) emphasizes that people—not AI—are in charge. This challenge does exactly that:

Humans Lead. You and your students make all the decisions. AI is a tool to help you think, not a replacement for thinking.

Students Own Their Work. The Poe chat shows your students' actual voices and ideas. They identify the problem, direct the brainstorming, make choices about the solution, and test it themselves.

Critical Thinking Matters. Your students learn how AI works, what it can and can't do, and how to evaluate whether an AI suggestion makes sense. That's AI literacy.

Academic Integrity is Clear. You'll cite the tools you used (including the AI Challenge Helper) in your final submission. That's transparency—exactly what the state expects.

Using AI Responsibly in Your Challenge Project

Keep Students in Control

• Brainstorm together. The AI Challenge Helper chat is a starting point, not the answer.

• Review AI suggestions. If the AI suggests something, talk about it: Does it make sense? Is it fair? Could it hurt someone? Could it help everyone?

• Your students decide. They choose which ideas to keep, change, or reject.

Watch for Bias

AI is trained on human data, so it can reflect unfair patterns. As you work through the challenge:

• If an AI suggestion seems to unfairly target a group of students, talk about it

• Ask: "Is this solution fair to everyone?"

• This is a teachable moment about how technology reflects the data it learns from

Cite Your Tools

When you submit your project, you must cite all tools you used. For now, use the citation button in the AI_App_Ideator tool to generate a proper citation for Hampshire County AI's AI Challenge Helper. (This feature will be added to the main AI Challenge Helper soon.)

Teaching AI Literacy Through the Challenge

Whether you realize it or not, your students are learning computer science and AI literacy. The challenge naturally teaches computational thinking—the foundation of all computer science:

• Breaking down problems (decomposition): What exactly needs to change?

• Noticing patterns (pattern recognition): What similar problems exist?

• Step-by-step thinking (algorithms): What steps should the app follow?

• Testing and fixing (debugging): Does the app work? What needs to change?

• Evaluating solutions (evaluation): Does this actually solve the problem?

This aligns with WVBE Policy 2520.14 (West Virginia College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Technology and Computer Science), which requires all students to learn these concepts in age-appropriate ways.

Questions?

Use the chat box on our website (bottom right). Your message goes straight to us. We respond as soon as we can. Ask anytime—no such thing as too early or too late.

Need a presentation for your school? Want to run a workshop for other teachers? Request it through the chat. We design support around what you need.

The Bottom Line

Your K-5 students have real ideas about real problems. The Presidential AI Challenge gives them a platform to turn those ideas into working solutions, see them recognized officially, and learn that their thinking matters.

No special skills required. No coding. Just your students' curiosity and your willingness to guide them through a real problem-solving process.

That's worth 2-3 hours of class time over a few weeks.

Get started today. Your students' ideas are waiting.

Check out the AI Challenge Helper App