After winning a national AI competition in Washington, D.C., fourth- and fifth-grade students from Alcoa Intermediate School showed that the most powerful innovations still depend on human judgment, teamwork, and purpose.
Story by Rebekah Goode | Photos by Jack Dempsey, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science
They won. After planning, implementing, and competing at the local and state levels with their Homework Helper artificial intelligence project, a small group of fourth- and fifth-graders from Alcoa Intermediate School were named the national winners of their age group in the Presidential AI Challenge in Washington, D.C.
For University of Tennessee, Knoxville, faculty mentor Emily Holtz, the real story began long before the landmark win. It began in the process of watching these young students and their classmates think through problems adults often assume are too complex for them to tackle. It continued through late-stage project revisions, group discussions about community needs, and moments when the students themselves began questioning something fundamental: Is artificial intelligence always the right answer, at all?
Holtz, an assistant professor of elementary education in the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, shared, “I already believed this to be true, but working with these students really reinforced the importance of human-centered AI use.”
From project to project, a pattern emerged: the technology was never the center of the conversation; people were. The students repeatedly returned to a core idea that AI should support human decision-making, not replace it.
According to Holtz, “No matter how sophisticated their ideas became, students recognized that there still needed to be a person involved to verify information, catch mistakes, make ethical decisions, and ensure the technology was actually meeting the needs of the people it was designed to help.”
That understanding didn’t come from a lecture or a prompt. It came from the students themselves.
A Challenge Rooted in Real Communities
The Presidential AI Challenge asked students to identify real-world problems and explore how emerging technologies might be used to address them. For Holtz and her colleagues, the goal was not to produce polished technical experts, but to give students space to think critically about the world around them.
At Alcoa Intermediate School, that process quickly became something more than an assignment. Students organized into teams, selected topics that mattered to them, and began developing ideas from the ground up. In total, six student projects were submitted to the competition in January.
One of those teams—the Homework Helper project—would go on to advance to the national stage in Washington, D.C., and ultimately earn them a national title.
Holtz is quick to point out that the outcome was only one part of a much larger story: “Students were excited about this project because it directly related to their community.”
A connection to lived experience shaped everything that followed. Students weren’t working in abstract terms; they were thinking about problems they had seen, heard, or experienced firsthand. That made their engagement with the work more immediate, and more thoughtful.
When AI Wasn’t the Answer
One of the most surprising discoveries during the project didn’t involve a breakthrough in artificial intelligence at all.
It was the realization that sometimes, AI wasn’t needed.
Holtz shared, “Students have a lot to say, and they have ideas for solutions. We just need to give them a space to explore those ideas.”
In some cases, students concluded that the most effective solution wasn’t a technological one. Instead, it might involve better communication within a community, increased awareness around an issue, or simply creating a space where people could share ideas and be heard.
For many of the adults involved, this was a striking shift in perspective. At a time when AI is often seen as the solution to every problem, the students showed the importance of knowing when technology can help, and when it can’t.
They weren’t rejecting technology. They were evaluating it.
That distinction became one of the most powerful lessons of the entire experience. Without the Presidential AI Challenge, students may never have had the opportunity to explore these ideas, share their perspectives, and discover that some of the most meaningful solutions begin with conversation rather than technology.
Stepping Back to Let Students Lead
For Holtz, the role of mentor required a careful balance, offering guidance when needed but resisting the urge to take over.
“Sometimes as adults, we need to be quiet and let the students take the lead,” she explained.
That approach shaped the structure of the entire project. Students generated the ideas and chose which problems to pursue. They formed their own teams, conducted research, wrote narratives, and designed presentations. The adults in the room—Holtz, along with teacher Mrs. McDonald and colleague Mr. Baumann—served primarily as facilitators.
“We wanted to position the students as the experts,” Holtz said, “because they know their communities better than I do as a faculty mentor.”
That approach became even more important as the project progressed. Rather than directing every step, mentors gave students the freedom to shape their own projects. The result was work that reflected the students’ interests, ideas, and decisions from start to finish.
Six Days, National Recognition, and Unexpected Depth
The speed of the project still stands out to Holtz.
“We accomplished the initial project in six days,” she said. “I think this speaks to the capabilities of the students.”
While many teams competing in the national challenge had been developing their projects since the fall, the Tennessee students began in January. Despite the shortened timeline, their work advanced quickly—and meaningfully.
For the team that would ultimately compete in Washington, D.C., growth over time became a defining characteristic. The students refined their ideas, learned industry-specific language, and responded thoughtfully to feedback from experts in the field. They also sought input from faculty and staff at UT, strengthening both their technical understanding and their ability to articulate complex ideas.
“Their ability to speak to very complex language and ideas was incredible,” Holtz shared.
What stood out most, however, was not just their knowledge, but their maturity. These were fourth- and fifth-grade students navigating concepts often reserved for much older learners, and they were doing so with confidence, curiosity, and collaboration.
More Than Technical Skill
While the projects were rooted in artificial intelligence, Holtz is clear that success was never about technical ability alone.
“This project is about so much more than using AI to solve a problem,” she said. “It was this teamwork and leadership within the group that contributed to their further success.”
They understood each other’s strengths and when to step forward or when to step back during question-and-answers. They also recognized who should speak to which parts of the project and supported one another throughout the process.
That collaboration carried through to Washington, D.C., where the experience went beyond competition. Students connected with peers from across the country, many of whom began as competitors but left as friends.
The sense of community, both within and beyond their own team, became one of the most lasting outcomes of the experience.
Teaching AI . . . and Learning From It
Throughout the project, students were introduced not only to how AI works, but to how it should be used responsibly.
“We were very intentional about teaching them what AI can and cannot do along with the ethical and critical considerations when using AI,” Holtz said.
That foundation extended past the four walls of their classroom. Parents, in some cases, reported learning alongside their children as conversations about AI carried home.
The impact, then, was not confined to a competition or a single project cycle. It became a broader exercise in AI literacy, helping students and families alike better understand a rapidly evolving technology.
A Reason for Optimism
Looking back, Holtz doesn’t frame the experience around the national title, though it was a significant achievement. Instead, she focuses on what the students demonstrated throughout the process—leadership, collaboration, and an ability to think critically about both technology and community.
“I am just so proud of the teamwork that this group of students and all of our teams that submitted a project exhibited,” she said.
But perhaps her most telling reflection comes when she considers what this group of students represents more broadly.
“It gives me such pride and hopefulness for our future if this group of kiddos is the example of all elementary students in our country.”
In the end, the story of Champions of Innovation is not only about a national win in Washington, D.C., but about what happens when students are given the space to lead, to question, and to imagine solutions on their own terms.
What these fourth- and fifth-graders revealed is something simple but often overlooked in conversations about emerging technology: the future of innovation is still deeply human.