How to use this

Read it once. Adapt it for your school.

Each week is one 45-minute session. Every session has a goal, a time map, activities, and notes. The curriculum works with any approved AI tool and with any device your school supports — Chromebooks, iPads, or laptops.

Tool-agnostic

Activities work with whichever AI platform your district has approved. We name examples but nothing is required.

Hardware-flexible

Every session has a plan for schools with restricted environments. Chat-only AI is enough for most of the program.

Yours to adapt

Times, orders, and activities can all shift. What matters is the arc: try, imagine, build, ship.

Before week 1: confirm your school's AI tool list with the technology coordinator, review the AI acceptable use policy, collect parent consent forms, and brief your first two guides. See the fall and spring calendar for help picking your start date.

V Venture Weeks 1–3

Explore the landscape.

Students try the tools, iterate, and meet someone who builds with AI for a living. The goal is comfort and curiosity — not mastery.

Week 1

Your first build.

Goal: Every student makes something in their first session. Comfort over mastery.

0–5Welcome
5–15Demo
15–38Build
38–45Share

What happens

Champion introduces VIBE in two minutes: one project, twelve weeks, one real thing shipped by each student.
Champion does a live demo — pick something simple (a webpage, a letter, a simple calculator idea), prompt an AI, and show the whole messy process, including wrong outputs and corrections.
Students each pick one thing to make — a short story, a simple webpage, a quiz, a business idea — and use AI to help make it.
Last seven minutes: each student shares one sentence or a screen.

Champion notes. Show your mistakes in the demo. Students are watching to see if AI is magical or usable. Make it usable. Don't filter ideas at this stage. "Something on screen" is the bar — it doesn't have to be good.

Flexibility. Works with any chat AI on any device. No coding tools required. Students can use AI to write, design, plan, or describe — not just code.

Week 2

The conversation, not the command.

Goal: Students learn that iteration produces better results than single prompts.

0–5Check-in
5–20Prompt demo
20–38Improve
38–45Share

What happens

Ask two or three students what they thought of week 1. Pivot to the lesson: AI is a collaborator, not a vending machine.
Demo the same request as a bad prompt, a good prompt, and a great prompt side by side. Show how context, constraints, and examples change the output.
Students take their week 1 project and make three specific improvements using better prompting.
Each student shares one improvement they made.

Champion notes. The key lesson is that context is everything. The more you tell the AI about what you want, the closer it gets. Students who were unsatisfied with week 1 should leave week 2 feeling better about their project.

Flexibility. Pure chat activity. Works with any text AI on any device. No installation needed.

Week 3

First guide visit.

Goal: Students see what building with AI looks like in a real professional's life.

0–5Intro
5–20Career + AI
20–35Q&A
35–45Follow-up

What happens

Champion introduces the guide: name, field, one sentence about how they use AI.
Guide shares their actual work: not a TED talk, a show-and-tell. What they build, how AI helps, where it fails.
Open Q&A — students ask anything.
Last ten minutes: students with related interests get brief follow-up time.

Champion prep. Send the guide kit three days before. Have each student prepare two questions beforehand so the conversation doesn't die. Remind the guide: no slides needed — their real experience is the curriculum.

Flexibility. No tech required. Screen-sharing is optional. Guide visits work by phone, video, or in person depending on what your school allows.

I Imagine Weeks 4–6

Find direction.

A second field. A project idea. A plan a student can actually finish. This phase turns exposure into intention.

Week 4

Second guide (or site visit).

Goal: Students encounter a completely different field and see how AI applies there.

0–5Intro
5–20Career + AI
20–35Q&A
35–45Follow-up

What happens

Same structure as week 3. Key difference: pick a guide in a very different industry — if week 3 was a software engineer, invite a nurse, a designer, or a tradesperson.
The contrast between guides is the lesson. After two very different fields, students start to see that working with AI is a universal skill, not a technical one.

Site visit option. If a guide invites the cohort to their workplace, this is worth doing. The school's existing field trip policies apply. The faculty champion must attend.

Flexibility. If in-person visits are restricted, video or phone call formats still work. A 20-minute call with a real practitioner in a different field is powerful.

Week 5

What do you want to build?

Goal: Every student has at least one real project idea by the end of the session.

0–5Frame
5–20Brainstorm
20–35Napkin pitch
35–45Pair share

What happens

Champion frames the challenge: "You have six weeks to build something real. What would you want to exist in the world that doesn't yet — or what would you want to make better?"
Fifteen-minute free brainstorm. Students write every idea without filtering. Nothing is too big or too small.
Napkin pitch: each student writes three sentences about their best idea — what it is, who it's for, what problem it solves.
Pairs share and give one observation: "The part I'm most curious about is…"

Champion notes. Don't let students shoot down their own ideas. Ambitious ideas are good at this stage — scoping comes in week 6. Common project types: websites, apps, games, short films, business plans, community tools, scripts, art generators, educational tools, newsletters. Keep the list of ideas — you'll need it.

Flexibility. No technology required. Works with pen and paper or any writing app.

Week 6

Scope and plan.

Goal: Every student leaves with an approved, achievable project and a milestone plan.

0–5Define "shipped"
5–30Scoping worksheet
30–431:1 check-ins
Confirm

What happens

Champion defines what "shipped" means: something a person outside the room can see, use, or read. It works. You built it.
Students complete the project scoping worksheet: project name, who it's for, what done looks like, what AI tools they'll use, their three biggest questions.
Champion circulates for quick 1:1 check-ins: is this achievable in five build sessions? If not, how do we scope it down?
Every student leaves with a confirmed, written project.

Four scoping questions to ask every student

What does the working version look like? Describe it specifically.
Who is the first person you'd show this to?
What's the one part you're most unsure how to build?
What AI tool makes the most sense for what you're making?

Champion notes. Watch for two failure modes: too big (an app that does everything) and too small (nothing they're proud of). Push both groups toward the middle. Students who can't decide between ideas: ask "which one would you be most embarrassed NOT to finish?"

Flexibility. The worksheet can be paper, a shared doc, or a simple template in any editor. No specific tool required.

B Build Weeks 7–10

Make it real.

Four consecutive sprints. Something working beats something perfect. By week 10, every project is feature-complete and ready to polish.

Week 7

First working version.

Goal: Every student has something running — however rough — by the end of the session.

0–5Sprint rules
5–40Build
40–45Stand-up

What happens

Champion opens: "Today's rule is 'working beats beautiful.' We want something on screen, not something perfect."
Thirty-five-minute build sprint. Students work on their projects using AI. Champion circulates and helps unblock.
Stand-up: each student says one sentence — what they built and what's next.

Champion notes. The first build session is the hardest. Students often get stuck because they're trying to build the finished thing, not a rough version. Remind them to start with the core thing. If a student is completely stuck, help them break the project into one smaller step and do that step together.

Flexibility. This is where tech matters. For Chromebooks without coding tools, students can build with chat AI and publish using Google Sites, Canva, Google Slides, or Google Docs. Apps and games may require Replit or similar — confirm with IT before this session.

Week 8

Build sprint 2 — features.

Goal: Core features take shape. Students build with purpose, not exploration.

0–5Set goal
5–38Build
38–45Pair share

What happens

Before building, each student states what they will finish today. Write goals on the board.
Build. Champion circulates.
Pairs share progress: "Here's what I got done, here's what I'm doing next."

Champion notes. Goal-setting before the sprint matters more than it sounds. Students who name their goal are more likely to finish it. Watch for scope creep — students adding features before the core works. Redirect: "Does the thing you promised in week 6 work yet?"

Flexibility. If students need to collaborate or share screens and your environment restricts that, pairs can simply sit side by side and talk. No special tools required.

Week 9

Guide feedback (or peer review).

Goal: Students get outside perspective on their in-progress project.

0–5Frame
5–40Reviews
40–45Next steps

Option A — guide available

Invite a returning guide (or a new one) to review projects.
Each student gets two to three minutes to show their project.
Guide asks three questions: What does this do? Who's it for? What's the hardest part left?
Champion captures notes for each student.

Option B — no guide

Structured peer review. Pairs do two-minute demos of their project.
Reviewer gives one thing working well and one question they have.
Swap and repeat with a different partner.

Champion notes. This is the midpoint. Anyone way behind on scope: this is the moment to have an honest conversation about what's achievable by week 11. A 50% done honest project is more valuable than a 90% done project that lost its direction.

Flexibility. Guides can join remotely if in-person isn't possible. A 30-minute video call works. Peer review needs no technology at all.

Week 10

Feature complete.

Goal: Core functionality is done. Polish begins.

0–5Define complete
5–35Final push
35–451:1 check-ins

What happens

Champion opens: "Feature complete means the main thing works. We're not adding new things — we're finishing what we said we'd build."
Final focused build session.
Champion does quick 1:1 check-ins: what's done, what's left, is the project ready to show on week 12?

Champion notes. Change the language: shift from "building" to "finishing." It signals that the phase has changed. If a student's project isn't working yet, scope down ruthlessly to get something working. A simple, working version is a win. An ambitious, broken version is not.

Flexibility. Whatever tools students used to build, they continue with. No change needed.

E Emerge Weeks 11–12

Ship and share.

Every student presents their work publicly. Families, administrators, and community see what got built. The showcase is the proof — and the beginning of a portfolio.

Week 11

Showcase prep.

Goal: Every student can present their project clearly and confidently in three minutes.

0–10Format + rubric
10–30Write + practice
30–45Pair practice

What happens

Champion explains the showcase: three minutes, show the thing, tell the story. Families, administrators, and community are invited.
Students draft their presentation using the framework below.
Pairs practice with feedback. Two questions: was it clear what they built? Did they own it?

Three-minute presentation framework

What did you build? Show it. (20 seconds)
Who is it for and why does it matter? (30 seconds)
How did AI help you make it? Be specific. (30 seconds)
What was the hardest part, and how did you figure it out? (30 seconds)
What would you build next? (20 seconds)

Champion notes. Students often undersell themselves. Coach them to say "I built this" not "the AI made this" — the AI was a collaborator, they were the director. Let nervous students practice multiple times. The goal is comfort, not perfection.

Flexibility. Students can present live, with slides, a video, or just their working project. Whatever lets them show the work clearly in three minutes.

Week 12

Showcase.

Goal: Every student presents publicly. Families and community celebrate the work.

Format

Invite families, administrators, guides, sponsors, and local press two weeks out.
Set up project stations or run a presentation format — whichever fits your space.
Each student presents for three minutes.
Champion opens with a brief intro to the program.
Optional: invite one guide to give brief closing remarks.

What to collect

Photos of students presenting (only with parental consent on file).
Project URLs, screenshots, or short video clips for portfolio use.
A guide endorsement note for each student who made a meaningful connection.
Champion fills out the end-of-semester review the week after.

Champion notes. Celebrate everything. First-time builders shipping any working project is remarkable. Have a plan for tech issues: every student should have a backup (screenshots or a short recording) in case a live demo fails.

Flexibility. The showcase can be in-person, streamed, or hybrid depending on what your school supports. A gym, library, cafeteria, or classroom all work.

Next steps

After the showcase.

Capture what worked, pass it forward, and start the next cohort stronger.

End-of-semester review

A one-page template. What worked, what to change, what the next champion should know.

Student portfolios

Share project links, screenshots, and guide endorsements. Students own their work forever.

Start the next cohort

You now have a running program. Pass the framework to a second champion or run it again.

Questions, feedback, or running into something this curriculum doesn't cover? Reach out at [email protected]. We respond to every email and improve the curriculum based on what champions tell us.