Two Boundary County students will represent Idaho on a national stage this summer, selected to help shape artificial intelligence policy for public schools across the country at a prestigious fellowship event in Boston and Cambridge.
James Cederquist and Colton Larsson were named Idaho’s student senators in mid-June by the School Superintendents Association and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. Boundary County Middle School Principal Mark Fisk will travel with them as the delegation’s education leader.
The three Idahoans are among 100 student senators — two from each state — who will gather for the 2026 Leadership and Innovation Fellowship at America’s Youth AI Festival, scheduled for July 17–19 in Boston and Cambridge.
Drafting Real Policy for 10,000 School Leaders
The fellowship is not ceremonial. Student senators will deliberate and draft a formal National AI Policy focused on public K–12 classrooms. Once finalized, that policy document will be distributed to the School Superintendents Association’s network of more than 10,000 school leaders nationwide — giving the work of these students real reach and potential influence.
Fifty school system leaders will participate in parallel workshops alongside MIT RAISE, Day of AI, and Kennedy Institute personnel during the three-day event, which draws a total of roughly 250 students, educators, school leaders, and partners.
Boundary County School District Superintendent Jan Bayer expressed enthusiasm about the opportunity. “I’m so excited for our students to represent Idaho,” she said.
The excitement is well-founded. The policy students produce won’t simply sit in a folder — it will land in the inboxes of superintendents and district leaders across every corner of the country, making it one of the more consequential student-led exercises in education policy currently being organized at the national level.
Festival Events Span MIT, Kennedy Library
Beyond the policy deliberations, the America’s Youth AI Festival includes several public-facing events over the July 17–19 span. The opening welcome reception will be held at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on the evening of July 17.
On July 18, the festival moves to MIT’s campus for a full day of programming. Winners of the “Me, Myself, and AI” student art contest will be showcased at the MIT Museum, and five finalist teams in the “AI for a Better World” competition will present their projects at the MIT Media Lab. An “AI Live” performance is also scheduled at the MIT Museum the same day.
Dr. Cynthia Breazeal, Director of MIT RAISE, framed the stakes of the event in a statement, saying that students need more than access to AI tools — they need “the knowledge, confidence, and ethical foundation to understand and shape this technology.”
That framing aligns closely with the fellowship’s core mission: rather than treating students as passive recipients of emerging technology, the program positions them as active participants in setting the ground rules for how AI is introduced and governed in schools.
North Idaho Students Making Their Mark
The selection of Cederquist, Larsson, and Fisk reflects a broader pattern of North Idaho students and educators stepping into prominent roles at regional and national events. Earlier this year, students from the Lake Pend Oreille area demonstrated civic engagement of a different kind — LPO High School students donated greenhouse-grown plant starts to the Sandpoint Food Bank, and Ridgeline High School took home honors at the KSPS Civics Bowl on a final tiebreaking question.
The AI fellowship adds a tech-policy dimension to that record of student achievement in Bonner and Boundary County communities.
What Comes Next
Cederquist, Larsson, and Fisk will depart for Boston ahead of the July 17 welcome reception at the Kennedy Library. The student-drafted National AI Policy is expected to be completed during the fellowship and distributed to the School Superintendents Association’s 10,000-member network shortly after the event concludes on July 19. Watch for updates from the Boundary County School District as the delegation prepares to travel and upon their return.