AGI - Advance, Grow, Innovate with AI

Morgan Mason works with early childhood educators, coaches, and school leaders through Keep Indiana Learning, and she brings a grounded view to a conversation that can get weird fast: what should AI do around young children?Jason and Morgan talk through AI toys, Mr. Potato Head with a language model inside, the risks of sycophancy and anthropomorphism, and the bigger opportunity sitting right beside those risks. AI could help educators communicate with families across language barriers, support early literacy, plan better lessons, and give teachers time back for the human parts of the job.This episode stays with the early childhood and K-6 question. Young kids need play, relationships, curiosity, and adults who are paying attention. They also need adults who are willing to learn enough about AI to guide them.ABOUT THE GUESTMorgan Mason is a Professional Learning Specialist with Keep Indiana Learning, the professional learning department of CIESC. Her work focuses on early childhood, early literacy, coaching, and support for educators and school leaders across Indiana. Before joining Keep Indiana Learning, she taught elementary grades and served as an instructional coach.GUEST LINKSLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgan-mason-9719b9235/Keep Indiana Learning: https://keepindianalearning.org/CIESC: https://ciesc.org/TIME STAMPS00:00 - Morgan Mason and Keep Indiana Learning02:47 - Activity-based learning, Alpha School, and the Path School04:59 - AI for young children and why early educators are cautious08:28 - Social media, guardrails, and the mistake of waiting too long12:00 - Sycophancy, anthropomorphism, and AI relationships15:07 - Language development and AI as a possible support18:28 - The Schoolhouse Rock version of how LLMs work21:00 - MagicSchool AI, teacher training, and district adoption30:19 - Morgan's tool stack: ChatGPT, NotebookLM, Gemini, and Canva37:00 - Indiana's AI education momentum40:31 - Student-centered coaching as an adoption model47:11 - Letting kids show adults what AI can make possibleCONNECT WITH JASON PADGETTDirector of Growth and Partnerships at CitizenAI📧 jason@mycitizen.aiLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-grant-padgett/X: https://x.com/NoCodeCAIONewsletter (No Code CAIO): https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7399599285849346048Available for interviews and keynotes on AI in education → jason@mycitizen.aiAGI PODCAST NETWORKSchool's Out Saturdays: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/Field Notes newsletter: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/field-notesIndiana AI education events: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/eventsAll AGI Podcast shows: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/networkTOOLS JASON RECOMMENDSMindStudio → https://get.mindstudio.ai/q7n7u5cttkdqRiverside.fm → https://riverside.sjv.io/e1xyBrWispr Flow → https://ref.wisprflow.ai/jason-padgettRESOURCES MENTIONED- Keep Indiana Learning: https://keepindianalearning.org/- CIESC: https://ciesc.org/- Alpha School: https://alpha.school/- The Anxious Generation: https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/- MagicSchool AI: https://www.magicschool.ai/- NotebookLM: https://notebooklm.google.com/- Canva: https://www.canva.com/- ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/- Claude: https://claude.ai/- Replit: https://replit.com/- Codex: https://openai.com/codex/

Lena Darnay spent years as a school librarian before she landed at the Central Indiana Educational Service Center, and that librarian's brain turns out to be exactly what the AI moment needs. In this School's Out Saturdays conversation she and Jason dig into why K-12 has to expose kids to AI early instead of blocking it, why every industry panel she has ever sat on names the same must-have skill, spreadsheets, and why the old blame game between K-12, higher ed, and employers has to end. Jason makes his case against Carmel Schools, which trained its teachers on AI for two and a half years and still keeps it out of the classroom. The two get into anthropomorphism, sycophancy, and the Character AI tragedy that should worry every parent. They also cover Indiana's new diploma seals, the SAIL leadership work at CIESC, vibe coding a conference app in Replit, and what Plato's Republic has to do with Sam Altman. Lena closes on grief, sci-fi, and radical acceptance.ABOUT THE GUESTLena Darnay is Director of Communications at the Central Indiana Educational Service Center, or CIESC, the largest of Indiana's nine educational service centers, serving 35 member districts and about 220,000 students. A former high school librarian and instructional technology specialist, she moved into the service center world during the pandemic and now helps lead the SAIL AI leadership work through Keep Indiana Learning, CIESC's professional development arm. She holds an undergraduate degree in marketing and a master of library science from Indiana University.GUEST LINKSLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-g-darnay/CIESC: https://ciesc.org/Keep Indiana Learning: https://keepindianalearning.org/TIME STAMPS00:00 - The service center model most people never see07:20 - What SAIL is and why Jason got pulled in10:45 - Carmel Schools and the case for AI in K-12 now16:22 - The entry-level job is about to change20:44 - The one skill every employer names: spreadsheets22:31 - Why philosophy and library science degrees matter again28:06 - Socrates, Plato, and AI's philosopher kings33:21 - Ikigai, Alpha School, and exposing kids early46:37 - Anthropomorphism, sycophancy, and the Character AI tragedy54:34 - Sci-fi, grief, and The Poppy FieldsCONNECT WITH JASON PADGETTDirector of Partnerships and Growth at CitizenAIjason@mycitizen.aiLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-grant-padgett/X: https://x.com/NoCodeCAIONewsletter (No Code CAIO): https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7399599285849346048AGI PODCAST NETWORKSchool's Out Saturdays: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/All AGI Podcast shows: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/networkTOOLS JASON RECOMMENDSMindStudio: https://get.mindstudio.ai/q7n7u5cttkdqRiverside.fm: https://riverside.sjv.io/e1xyBrWispr Flow: https://ref.wisprflow.ai/jason-padgettRESOURCES MENTIONEDCentral Indiana Educational Service Center: https://ciesc.org/Keep Indiana Learning: https://keepindianalearning.org/Alpha School, 2 Hour Learning model: https://alpha.school/The Poppy Fields by Nikki ErlickRobopocalypse by Daniel H. WilsonReplit: https://replit.com/Notebook LM: https://notebooklm.google.com/Character AI: https://character.ai/People referenced: Ryan Murray, Tanika Kennardle, and Jenna Cooper at CIESC and SAIL, Dr. Nicole Adams at Purdue, Ann Lefwich at Indiana University, Geoffrey Hinton, Amanda Askell at Anthropic, Reid Hoffman

EPISODE DESCRIPTIONScouting America rolled out an AI merit badge in fall 2025, and Bryon Haverstick is about to put it in front of around 30 kids at the University of Scouting at Purdue on December 5. Bryon runs scouting across 14 counties in north central Indiana for the Sagamore Council, and the event has grown into the largest University of Scouting in the country, close to 3,000 people from 26 states last year. Jason teaches one of the AI sessions, Michael Witt teaches another, and a Purdue professor runs a third.The two get into what the badge covers: key terminology, where AI shows up in everyday life and work, deepfakes and how to spot them, ethics, and a project where scouts design and teach a lesson of their own. They talk about why scouting's two-deep leadership rule maps cleanly onto keeping kids safe with AI, why Bryon thinks the social media mistake was going hands-off, and how he built a council marketing plan in 30 minutes that would have cost 45 to 60 thousand dollars to hire out. Jason calls his shot too: give kids a beginner's mind and they will show the adults things these machines can do that nobody expected.ABOUT THE GUESTBryon Haverstick, CNP, is the assistant scout executive and chief operating officer of the Sagamore Council of Scouting America, covering 14 counties across north central Indiana from the Greater Lafayette area. A St. Louis native and Lindenwood University graduate, he has led council operations since 2017 and built the council's University of Scouting at Purdue into the largest single-day youth event on campus and the largest event of its kind in the country.GUEST LINKSLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryon-haverstick-cnp-1465188/Sagamore Council: https://www.sagamorecouncil.org/University of Scouting at Purdue, December 4-6, 2026: https://scoutingevent.com/162-100441TIME STAMPS00:00 - The Sagamore Council and University of Scouting at Purdue02:32 - Scouting's new AI merit badge and its first year05:02 - The eight requirements, from key terms to deepfakes to careers06:22 - Sycophancy, anthropomorphism, and what kids need under the hood07:51 - Catching scams with Perplexity and a $350 fake invoice11:04 - Why quality instructors matter more than credentials17:24 - Soft skills, collaboration, and a post-event virtual meetup22:19 - Social media's misstep and going hands-on with AI27:03 - Two-deep leadership applied to digital and AI safety31:30 - Consumers versus creators and the China comparison40:42 - A council marketing plan built in 30 minutes with ChatGPT42:35 - Podcasting on the cheap and a beginner's mind for kidsCONNECT WITH JASON PADGETTDirector of Growth and Partnerships at CitizenAI📧 jason@mycitizen.aiLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-grant-padgett/X: https://x.com/NoCodeCAIONewsletter (No Code CAIO): https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7399599285849346048Available for interviews and keynotes on AI in education -> jason@mycitizen.aiAGI PODCAST NETWORKSchool's Out Saturdays: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/Field Notes newsletter: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/field-notesIndiana AI education events: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/eventsAll AGI Podcast shows: https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/networkTOOLS JASON RECOMMENDSMindStudio -> https://get.mindstudio.ai/q7n7u5cttkdqRiverside.fm -> https://riverside.sjv.io/e1xyBrWispr Flow -> https://ref.wisprflow.ai/jason-padgettRESOURCES MENTIONEDArtificial Intelligence merit badge, Scouting America: https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/artificial-intelligence/University of Scouting at Purdue, December 4-6, 2026: https://scoutingevent.com/162-100441Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/NotebookLM: https://notebooklm.google.com/ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/