Thunkable Education Pilot for West Virginia Students Builds Future-Ready AI, Entrepreneurship, and App Development Skills

With support from The Rockefeller Foundation, Thunkable’s pilot program engaged approximately 120 high school students across West Virginia, resulting in an estimated 80 student-built mobile applications.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA / WEST VIRGINIA | September 10, 2026 — Thunkable today announced the conclusion of its artificial intelligence (AI) education pilot program in West Virginia, a hands-on learning initiative designed to increase AI literacy, expand access to entrepreneurship education, and facilitate creative technology development for high school students vulnerable to U.S. labor market disruption.

Implemented in collaboration with the State of West Virginia across participating high schools in Monongalia County, Kanawha County, and Berkeley County, the pilot, which was supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, introduced students in grades 9 through 12 to practical AI concepts, problem-solving, entrepreneurship, and mobile app creation using Thunkable’s no-code development platform. Four schools completed the program curriculum, with approximately 120 students developing an estimated 80 final applications to help their classmates and communities.

“It was incredibly inspiring to see these students go from ‘I have never written a line of code’ to ‘I have built an iPhone, Android, and web app that helps my community,’” said Arun Saigalat, Co-founder and CEO Thunkable. “These students have great ideas on how to make an impact in their communities and in the world. With the right tools, they were able to bring their creative ideas to life.”

“Jobs of the future will reward people who know how to build with AI, and West Virginia’s students are proving they can do exactly that,” said Andrew Sweet, Vice President of Innovation at The Rockefeller Foundation, which over the past five years has committed more than $33 million to grantees that are using AI to accelerate progress for vulnerable communities in the United States and around the world. “This pilot shows that hands-on AI education can work in communities that don’t always get first access to new technology — and that’s where this kind of investment matters most.”

The Challenge Facing America’s Students

High school students today are entering higher education and the workforce with limited training on AI systems, even as those systems are reshaping labor markets. Research suggests that AI is capable of replacing up to 11.7 percent of jobs in the U.S. labor market and 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 are actively looking for entry-level workers, but say they are struggling to find AI-trained graduates.

In West Virginia, a state whose economy has long been anchored in coal and is now navigating a transition toward new industries, students also face a compounding challenge in an AI-driven labor market: some of the lowest broadband access in the nation. West Virginia has ranked among the least-connected states in the country, with roughly one-third of residents lacking internet that meets federal broadband standards and with rural communities hit the hardest. For many students, this means growing up at a distance from the tools and technologies that increasingly define modern careers.

That exposure gap was clear from the start of the Thunkable AI education program: Many students entered with limited understanding of AI and low confidence in using emerging technologies, with approximately 50% of students initially saying they had no familiarity or very limited familiarity with AI concepts such as machine learning, prompt engineering, algorithms, and coding. Students also said they were more comfortable using general digital tools for schoolwork than using AI to solve problems or build technology-driven projects.

The Program and Results

Amid this backdrop, Thunkable developed the AI education pilot program to help vulnerable West Virginia students develop future-ready technical skills. Rather than focusing solely on AI as a tool for consumption, the curriculum emphasized creation, encouraging students to identify real-world problems, explore entrepreneurial ideas, and build functional mobile applications.

Over the course of the pilot, students participated in a recurring weekly structure that combined hands-on Thunkable tutorials and app development with entrepreneurship and innovation-focused instruction. Participating teachers also received professional development before implementation, helping them bring the curriculum into a range of classroom settings, including Entrepreneurship, Coding Game and App Design, and Informational Design and Coding.

By the end of the program, students had designed and presented a wide variety of original projects, including educational AI tools, productivity applications, health-oriented apps, gaming concepts, and small-business software. Standout projects included The School App, built by Spring Mills High School students to help peers with disabilities and or specialized instruction needs navigate schedules, track grades, and access learning resources; GlowUp Challenge, a teen wellness app by a Nitro High School student to help peers build healthy habits and confidence through 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 pilot also produced encouraging outcomes around student confidence, engagement, and entrepreneurial interest. For example, 44% of students reported more interest in starting their own businesses by the end of the program. They also repeatedly identified building applications, creating original ideas, collaborative problem-solving, coding with AI assistance, and seeing their concepts become functional apps as favorite parts of the course.

Opportunity to Further Scale

As West Virginia continues to invest in innovation and workforce development, this multi-county pilot demonstrates the potential of accessible, project-based AI education to help prepare America’s students for future careers in technology, entrepreneurship, and problem-solving, while also enabling broader economic prosperity for themselves and their communities. These early lessons reflect a clearer understanding of the barriers school systems face in adopting new technologies, from access and the right tools to the devices required to run them, as well as the importance of giving students established pathways forward, whether into higher education or the workforce. Building on these early successes in West Virginia, Thunkable is now actively exploring opportunities to expand this program to additional states and underserved communities nationwide.

About Thunkable

Thunkable is the award-winning visual development platform that lets students and teachers build real iOS and Android apps with no traditional coding required. From any web browser, students can turn ideas into working apps in just a few lessons. After building students’ design and development skills, teachers can activate built-in AI tools to accelerate student creativity and problem-solving. With Thunkable, students build mobile portfolios to prepare them for the digital workforce.

About The Rockefeller Foundation

Investing $30 billion over the last 113 years to promote the well-being of humanity, The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on unlikely partnerships and innovative solutions that deliver measurable results for people in the United States and around the world, including in association with RF Catalytic Capital Inc (RFCC). We leverage scientific breakthroughs, artificial intelligence, and new technologies to make big bets across energy, food, health, and finance. For more information, follow us on LinkedIn @the-rockefeller-foundation, X @RockefellerFdn, Instagram @rockefellerfdn, and YouTube @rockefellerfound, and sign up for our newsletter at www.rockefellerfoundation.org/subscribe.