MONONGALIA COUNTY, September 11 — Thunkable has wrapped up an artificial intelligence education pilot in West Virginia, and the numbers from the program are striking for a state that has long trailed the rest of the country on broadband access. The company announced the conclusion of the pilot on September 10, 2026.
It was run in collaboration with the State of West Virginia and supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, and it put students in grades 9 through 12 through a curriculum built around practical AI concepts, problem-solving, entrepreneurship, and mobile app creation on Thunkable’s no-code development platform. Four schools completed the program.
Roughly 120 students took part, and together they developed an estimated 80 final applications meant to help their classmates and their communities.
From zero code to a working app
Arun Saigal, co-founder and CEO of Thunkable, said it was inspiring to see students go from having never written a line of code to building an iPhone, Android, and web app that helps their community. With the right tools, he added, students brought their creative ideas to life. Think of it like giving someone a set of power tools instead of a factory.
The no-code approach means the students spent their time deciding what problem to solve and how, rather than grinding through syntax. The pilot ran across participating high schools in Monongalia County, Kanawha County, and Berkeley County.
The curriculum leaned into creation rather than treating AI as something you consume, pushing students to spot real-world problems, explore entrepreneurial ideas, and build functional mobile applications. At the start, about 50 percent of the students said they had no familiarity or very limited familiarity with AI concepts such as machine learning, prompt engineering, algorithms, and coding. They also reported being more comfortable using general digital tools for schoolwork than using AI to solve problems or build technology-driven projects.
Why West Virginia
The state’s economy has long been anchored in coal and is now transitioning toward new industries. Students there face a compounding challenge: some of the lowest broadband access in the nation. West Virginia has ranked among the least-connected states, with roughly one-third of residents lacking internet that meets federal broadband standards, and rural communities hit hardest.
Andrew Sweet, vice president of innovation at The Rockefeller Foundation, said jobs of the future will reward people who know how to build with AI, and that West Virginia’s students are proving they can do exactly that. Over the past five years, the foundation has committed more than $33 million to grantees using AI to accelerate progress for vulnerable communities in the United States and around the world.
Sweet said the pilot shows hands-on AI education can work in communities that do not always get first access to new technology. The program was aimed squarely at a documented skills gap. Research cited in the announcement suggests AI is capable of replacing up to 11.7 percent of jobs in the U.S. labor market, and that roughly 50 to 55 percent of America’s workers could see AI reshape their jobs in the coming years, with entry-level and task-dense roles particularly exposed.
Employers, meanwhile, say they are struggling to find AI-trained graduates.
Confidence, and a shift in ambition
By the end, students had designed and presented original projects spanning educational AI tools, productivity applications, health-oriented apps, gaming concepts, and small-business software.
Standout work included The School App, built by Spring Mills High School students to help peers with disabilities and specialized instruction needs navigate schedules, track grades, and access learning resources; GlowUp Challenge, a teen wellness app by a Nitro High School student built around daily challenges, progress tracking, and positive self-talk; and Nebula CMH, a client management platform designed to help small businesses improve record keeping, permissions, and client workflows. The outcomes went beyond the apps themselves.
Forty-four percent of students reported more interest in starting their own businesses by the end of the program, and students repeatedly named building applications and creating original projects as the highlights of the experience. What to watch next is whether the model travels. The pilot’s structure — a state partnership, philanthropic backing, and a no-code platform that lowers the entry barrier — is portable in principle to other regions where broadband is thin and AI training is scarce.
Whether West Virginia’s four schools keep the curriculum running, and whether other states follow, is the open question.
