March 31, 2026
More than 25 students from a local high school received an introduction to the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in a St. John’s University symposium held March 25 at the D’Angelo Center on the Queens, NY, campus.
Students from Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter High School in Brooklyn, NY, enjoyed an interactive experience highlighting the ethical use of AI through demonstrations and discussions led entirely by students in the University’s First-Year Seminar program, part of the Department of Core Studies at St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The “College Day” program encouraged the visiting high school students to explore the evolutionary nature of AI and how responsible use of such technology can enhance learning outcomes for those approaching college.
“I learned that you cannot assume that because AI provided the information, it is always correct,” said Ethan Torres, a 10th-grader at New Beginnings. “You still must check it.”
Omar Lopez ’11M.A., Adjunct Professor, Department of Core Studies, organized the event. Mr. Lopez, who is pursuing a doctorate in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in The School of Education, hosted a similar event in the fall semester for New Beginnings students.
The student lecturers from St. John’s were part of Mr. Lopez’s course, FYS 1000: Artificial Intelligence. They led the visiting students through a series of presentations on AI sourcing; checking for bias in AI-generated material; and how AI programs harvest information.
One lecture even showed the visiting students how to use AI to identify colleges of interest. The high school students competed for St. John’s merchandise and other prizes in a series of interactive quizzes that tested their knowledge.
“We do not want learning to become a passive exercise,” said St. John’s first-year nursing student Deevashree Bhadrasain. “As a society, we do not want students using AI just to help them pass a course. We want students to learn the material.”
The First-Year Seminar curriculum encourages students to engage personally and intellectually with St. John’s New York City home. Faculty members develop courses using their own disciplines as frameworks to teach students how to think critically, develop information literacy skills, and experience the city.
“The annual College Day represents a clear example of how dedicated our faculty are to our students,” said Simon G. Møller, Ph.D., Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, who attended the event. “It also highlighted our amazing students as leaders—educating and mentoring high school students on artificial intelligence.”
To reinforce AI’s growing impact in education, St. John’s student lecturers asked the New Beginnings students if they had ever used the technology to generate images or text for a school project. Nearly all of the students said they had.
“This program is rooted in the same research and values that shape my scholarship,” said Mr. Lopez, who also serves as a Customer Success Analyst in the Office of Information Technology. “Seeing students teach students about responsible and dignified technology use is a powerful reminder of why this work matters.”
For St. John’s student lecturers, the symposium was an opportunity to apply their classroom learning by teaching and mentoring the visiting students, some of whom were admittedly intimidated by AI and its classroom applications. “We, as college students, feel a responsibility to teach younger students how to use AI ethically as they continue their academic careers,” said Nuzhat Tuba, a first-year student at The Peter J. Tobin College of Business. “I feel a bit like an older sister to these students.”
New Beginnings students, meanwhile, said it was especially valuable to learn about responsible AI use from those who already use it in a university setting. “The St. John’s students are not far in age from us,” said 10th-grader Samuel Adedoyin, a prizewinner in the quiz competition. “They can provide us with a template for how to use AI properly.”