What Parents and Students Say About AIClub
From first AI classes to longer research projects, students and families describe the teaching, guidance, and support they experienced at AIClub.
AIClub played a pivotal role in helping my child discover a true passion for research and innovation. The mentors not only provided expert guidance but also created a nurturing environment where curiosity and independent thinking were encouraged. What impressed me most was the balance they struck—offering support while giving enough space for self-driven learning. Through his experience at AIClub, my child learned how to approach research thoughtfully, ask the right questions, and explore real-world challenges with confidence. The skills and mindset developed here have been invaluable in his internships and ongoing independent projects. I'm truly grateful for the foundation AIClub helped him build.
Parent of 11th grader, Northern California
Taking part in the AIClub Research Program was one of the most valuable academic experiences I have had. Before joining, I was curious about AI, but I had never done an independent research project or written a formal research paper. My mentor, Ms. Pallavi, guided me as I developed my research idea in cognitive science and machine learning. She supported me at every step, from working with the dataset to improving my research approach. The best part was seeing our project achieve over 85% accuracy with a Random Forest model and completing a full research paper. This taught me how real AI research works and made me more confident in handling complex problems. Working on this project with AIClub has shaped my academic goals and inspired me to keep exploring research in artificial intelligence.
The best part of the program was learning to manage an AI research project from beginning to end. I gained practical experience in data processing, especially in converting complex raw signals into formats ready for analysis. I also learned how to test and compare models to identify the most accurate way to detect patterns in human brain activity. Besides technical skills, I learned to share scientific results clearly and to apply AI in healthcare and education.
9th Grader, Santa Clara
My daughter, Janam and her partner Oliver started with AIClub back in October 2024. Their primary reason for joining the program was to enter the Conrad Challenge 2025 Innovation Summit competition. Their app called BuddyBear is designed to provide an affordable and interactive speech therapy for children. During the brainstorming phase of this project, Janam thought of addressing an issue that has impacted our family as she has a cousin who suffers from a speech impediment. Janam has been with AIClub for years, signing up for classes as time permits, so she has had fond interactions with Dr. Talagala.
During elementary and middle school years, her focus was purely on robotics and programming. By the time she got to high school however, there was shift in interest to business competitions brought on by being part of DECA at her school. While her new interest was certainly appealing to her, she did not want to let go of the knowledge she’s amassed through the years on the programming side. AIClub’s mentors, teachers and staff were all wonderful people to work with. They are a good balance of providing the freedom required for innovation and yet being supportive when the students get stuck. The mentors allowed Janam and Oliver to explore topics and supported them with their coding capabilities. I love, love, love Ms. Kamalashree!! She was always on hand to help especially when Janam was getting a bit frustrated with the coding piece. Submitting to the competition was a breeze with the AI Club! You can tell that they are very experienced and seasoned as they were on hand to help with charts, video recording, etc. I feel that AIClub reinforced to Janam that it is possible to blend her love for business and add a spin of technology in it.
Karen, Santa Clara
AIClub helped me go from knowing very little about coding and machine learning to having an ISEF level project. My instructor was helpful and excellent at teaching me coding. My mentor was very knowledgeable on how to create my quad chart, research plan, etc. I learned Python coding, machine learning, feature engineering, and how to write abstracts, research plans, etc.
9th Grader, Maryland
A parent’s view of AIClub classes
In this parent interview, a mother describes her fourth-grader’s introduction to AI and Python, and the patient, individual attention she saw from instructors.
Support for the most ambitious ideas
Research takes more than an idea. These students and parents describe learning technical skills, developing research questions, writing papers, and getting the help they needed when projects became difficult.
— Sahana, student
— Rachna Gadde, student
— Bay Area Parents of 7th Grade Son
— Hanidh, student