Ten-year-old AI student advocate Everest Nevraumont recently took center stage as a guest of First Lady Melania Trump at President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. Nevraumont, a passionate proponent for artificial intelligence in education, was invited alongside Sierra Burns as part of the First Lady’s “Be Best, Fostering the Future” initiative. This program aims to promote educational and financial pathways for children, especially those in foster care.
“Sierra and Everest embody my ongoing mission to uplift America’s foster youth and expand opportunity for our next generation through education and technology,” Mrs. Trump stated. She expressed pride in having them at the State of the Union address, noting that they represent young people whose personal experience and drive reflect the goals of her initiatives.
According to Fox News, Everest is a student at Austin’s Alpha School, an institution making waves by integrating AI software directly into its curriculum. This approach allows the school day to be incredibly condensed, often to just two hours.
Alpha School claims that its students learn faster and better
Mackenzie Price, a co-founder of Alpha School, explained that they use “an AI tutor and adaptive apps to provide a completely personalized learning experience.” Price claims this results in students learning “faster” and “way better,” with their classes ranking in the top 2% nationwide.
Nevraumont herself has been a vocal advocate for AI in education, delivering two TedX talks on the subject and discussing its advantages on a news program. She believes that AI is a crucial life skill. “In a normal school,” she explained, “one kid might be already done with the curriculum but one kid is still a year behind. Here, it’s teaching you exactly what you need to learn to finish, so you end up learning twice as fast and still getting everything you need to know.”
Alpha School isn’t just a small experiment; it currently operates campuses in Austin, Brownsville, and Miami, serving students from pre-K through high school. The Austin location boasts a K–8 academy and a dedicated high school campus downtown. The Brownsville school is reportedly its fastest-growing, and the Miami campus now serves students through 10th grade.
Despite Everest being presented as a success story for AI-driven education, the Alpha School model isn’t without its critics. Concerns have emerged regarding the high-stakes, technology-focused environment and its impact on students. Some parents who previously enrolled their children in Alpha School reported that the intense, compressed learning schedule led to high levels of stress for their kids. They also noted worries that the school might “prop up” specific students as models of success.
Another significant criticism points to an excessive reliance on apps as the sole educators, leading to a perceived lack of human interaction and input from school teachers and other staff.
The competitive nature of the curriculum, even for high-achieving students, can also lead to emotional distress. Edward Nevraumont, Everest’s father, even described his daughter’s devastation after a loss in a competition in a blog post, highlighting the emotional toll.
Critics also question the school’s “success” metrics, arguing that focusing on cramming for competitions using AI-generated questions, such as for the History Bee, might not equate to a truly well-rounded education.
Published: Feb 25, 2026 06:00 pm