Colin Kaepernick visited students at DREAM Charter School on May 21 as they presented graphic novels they created using Lumi AI, a tool that uses AI to support student storytelling.
Around 200 students, families and faculty members celebrated 10 ninth graders who created mini graphic novels using Lumi AI to generate visuals representing major issues and the historical events tied to them. Created in their world history class, the students used Lumi AI to write text and generate illustrations that reflected the stories they developed as they presented their work to the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and civil rights activist, who founded the tool.
“We have been spending time learning about how to responsibly and effectively utilize AI, thinking about competencies, how to respond bias, but also how do we build with AI and create new tools and new content, and tell our stories,” said Adam Feiler-Ware, Deputy Chief of Learning at DREAM.
The 10 students each received unique awards based on their novels. Several of the projects explored the evolution of power, climate change and inequality while connecting those themes to present-day social justice issues, echoing Kaepernick’s civil rights activism — in which he famously knelt during the national anthem at an NFL game in 2016 to protest racial inequality and police brutality.
Ninth grader Meredith Ageyman’s novel, “The Bridge Builder,” examined migration throughout history and connected it to present-day ICE raids. Another student, Kimora Briscoe, highlighted the use of imagery in her novel, “Enduring Inequality,” which guided readers through stages of the Haitian Revolution, the fight for civil rights in the United States and modern protest movements.
“I realized that facts and statistics can explain inequality, but it doesn’t really connect to the audience, but they did not always make people connect emotionally to it,” Briscoe said. “I wanted my project to show the human side of inequality and create a feeling that stays with the audience and after they walk away.”
Kaepernick’s relationship with DREAM Charter School and AI
One student, Harley Rivera Denise, used Lumi AI to create a novel examining the downsides of artificial intelligence within the broader theme of innovation throughout history.
Despite concerns about AI’s growing influence on education and youth development, Kaepernick, along with DREAM faculty and students, emphasized the technology’s potential as a creative and educational tool when used responsibly, such as for feedback and studying.
Kaepernick told the Bronx Times that Lumi AI approaches artificial intelligence from a space of transparency.
“We want to make sure that we’re enabling students to think critically in that process,” he said. “We don’t want to offload cognitive work to AI, but it can help us go further in advance, and that’s some of the guardrails that we also put in place for the platform, so we make sure that students are using it in an effective way.”
DREAM’s partnership with Kaepernick began more than a decade ago when his wife, Nessa Diab, introduced him to the charter school network.
“Colin has been an incredible partner to dream in so many ways, from supporting the organization financially to showing up for us in so many spaces, to inspiring young people, and to attending our events,” said Eve Colavito, co-CEO of DREAM.
“We spent years just supporting, donating, because the work is so important to make sure our students are advancing, that they have opportunity, and that socioeconomic background shouldn’t define what your access and opportunity in life is,” Kaepernick told the Bronx Times.
Kaepernick said his and Diab’s early conversations with DREAM resonated with their belief that all students should have access to quality education and motivated them to support the organization’s work.
“It just resonated so deeply with me that I felt like I had to support this work,” he added. “Now having it come to fruition, where we have a relationship and we get to support that even further — especially anything that we can do to make sure our communities are advancing and we’re helping set them up for success — is incredible, and DREAM is at the forefront of that.”
After the showcase, Kaepernick presented the award winners with Nike sneakers, backpacks and other gifts, along with free swag for audience members.
Kaepernick said that while the South Bronx is special to him, he hopes Lumi AI’s partnerships can expand to more schools in the future.
Reach Marina Samuel at msamuel@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
