AI in schools - Interview w/ Tory Thompson
In this episode, Drew sits down with Tory Thompson, Head of School at Elysium School of Innovation — a hybrid micro school in Huntersville, NC. Students are in the classroom two days a week, learning remotely two days, and out in the world on "field experience" Fridays, at a 10:1 ratio. Tory's path to running a school started with her own son: one of the brightest kids she knew, quietly failing fourth grade in a traditional classroom. When the hybrid program that turned him around got shut down, she built her own.
Tory and Drew get into what education actually looks like in the age of AI — not as a threat to be managed, but as the first real chance to teach every kid at their own level.
The conversation explores:
- Why the problem isn't the kids or the teachers, it's the architecture — a system designed for the industrial revolution
- Guardrails vs. barriers: the three layers of protection Tory uses at home and at school, and why blocking everything is the wrong instinct
- Cognitive amplifier vs. cognitive offload — and how to tell which one your kid is actually doing
- Why the student who hacked the school iPad got praised instead of punished
- How testing has to change: "I know you're going to use AI. Now tell me what questions you asked and where they took you."
- Financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and real-life skills — a sixth grader researching mutual funds instead of writing another book report
- Why AI won't replace teachers, but teachers who refuse to use it will be outdated
- Protecting childhood: the two-hour screen limit, family time as a feature, and "this is their one childhood and my one motherhood"
If you're a parent trying to prepare your kids for a world that's changing faster than the curriculum, or an educator trying to figure out where AI actually fits, this one is worth your time.
Chapters
00:00 Intro: what a hybrid micro school actually is
02:05 Tory's path: teacher, tutoring company, four kids
04:20 COVID, homeschooling, and a bright kid struggling in kindergarten
06:43 Finding Ripple: the hybrid program that changed everything
09:06 From failing fourth grade to the top 9% in the state
11:22 The program gets cancelled, so she builds her own school
13:39 Field experiences, scholarships, and why cost shouldn't decide
15:52 4,000 missing middle school seats and the rise of the hybrid model
17:20 Socrates hated writing: every new tool starts out as a threat
18:17 AI as the great equalizer
20:38 Foundations first: hallucinations and verifying the source
22:57 What guardrails actually look like: router, device management, age settings
25:09 "He hacked the game I made him" — the skills we're afraid of
27:32 Tech literacy, trust, and pulling an app that crossed a line
29:48 Protecting childhood and giving family time back
32:02 Progress over perfection: no grades, and 1.5x growth in three months
34:24 Teaching financial literacy: lemonade stands, mutual funds, and Gemini
36:32 Learn by teaching, and the real-life skills school skips
39:01 "The valedictorian is often just the best cheater" — rethinking testing
43:43 AI won't replace teachers, but it will outdate the ones who ignore it
46:00 Scaling micro schools: 240 kids, then open another one
48:19 Mayberry: community, cell numbers, and being known
50:36 The "Age of Innovation": the stuff we wish we'd been taught
55:14 700 reports in an hour: amplify, don't offload
Connect w/ Tory & Elysium School of Innovation
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tory-thompson/
https://elysiumschools.org
Instagram: @elysiumschools
Connect w/ Drew & StealthX
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewhburdick/
https://stealthx.co
