Colorado's 2026 Teacher of the Year, Stephen Paulson, responded to vandalism fueled by TikTok challenges by launching a student-led "Castle Clean Up" that expanded into tutoring, event support and community service. The project improved school culture and strengthened relationships between students and staff at Greeley Central High School.

Career and technical education teachers are increasingly turning to AI to help develop curricula, manage rapid technological advancements and ensure students are career-ready. Leah Ferguson, a graphic design teacher at The Dalles High School in Oregon, has used AI to organize lessons and align with industry standards, highlighting AI's potential to bridge the gap for teachers transitioning from other industries.

Asobo -- a Raleigh-N.C.-based K-12 startup -- uses AI to adapt game-like math modules for each student via a database of 300,000 questions. AI helps personalize the questions to match a student's grade level, background, learning disabilities and needs.

Roblox will use facial age estimation for users who want to chat, beginning in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands in December and globally in January. The move is part of efforts to improve safety for young users and follows lawsuits alleging the company failed to protect minors from exploitation.