Thursday · August 27, 2026 · BuffSci Medaille Campus · Buffalo NY

The future of education is being written right now. By teachers. For teachers. On a Thursday in Buffalo. AI Powered. Human Driven.

A one-day regional gathering for K-12 teachers and the leaders who back them. Practical, ethical, hands-on, unconference-flavored.

Why this summit, now
In collaboration with UB CATT · Tech Buffalo
BuffSci Charter· RocSci Charter· UB CATT· Tech Buffalo· Buffalo Public Schools· Williamsville Central· Lancaster Central· Cheektowaga· Lockport· Hamburg Central· West Seneca· Orchard Park· Sweet Home· Amherst Central· Kenmore-Tonawanda·
Why now
01

Half of teachers are caught between students who use AI and assessments that can't see it.

The trust crisis
02

Every district has an AI policy. Almost none have an AI practice.

The implementation gap
03

What if every teacher in Western New York walked into class Monday knowing one new thing that worked?

The Monday-morning question
Four lanes · pick where you start

Find your track.

The topics under each track are starting points, not a fixed menu. If your work fits the spirit, propose it anyway.

01 START

If you're teaching this fall and want one new thing that works.

Classroom Practice with AI

K-12 teachers using AI this fall

Working toolkit. Monday-morning ready. AI inside real lessons and real student work.

  • AI toolbox for teachers — practical tools and prompt libraries
  • Introducing AI to students safely
  • The drudgery audit — automating routine tasks
  • Differentiating for all learners using AI
  • Math, ELA teaching in the age of AI
  • AI and literacy
Propose a START session →
02 REDESIGN

If you're tired of fighting AI in assessments and want to integrate.

Ethics, Trust, Assessment & the Human Side

Teachers, coaches, and counselors rethinking what we ask of students

Address the trust crisis. Move from detection to integration. Protect what AI shouldn't replace.

  • Responsible and ethical AI use in K-12
  • AI-proof assessment design
  • PBL with generative AI
  • Digital badges and alternative engagement
  • AI and SEL practices
  • Tackling the absentee crisis using AI
Propose a REDESIGN session →
03 BUILD

If you want to leave the summit having shipped a tool you made.

Practitioner Workshops

Teachers and leaders ready to create, not just consume

From user to builder. Leave with a working agent, app, or tool you made yourself.

  • Vibe coding 101 — be the solution to your own problem
  • Hands-on agent building for teachers
  • Building agents for school leaders
  • Role-playing with generative and agentic AI
Propose a BUILD session →
04 LEAD

If you have to defend an AI policy to a skeptical board.

Strategy, Governance & Workforce

Principals, directors, board members, district leaders

Governance, infrastructure, workforce planning. AI policy you can defend to a skeptical board.

  • Intentional leadership playbook — governing AI before it governs you
  • The AI-powered administrator
  • Future workforce and microcredentials for HS students
  • Best practices from regional AI-in-schools cohorts
  • Cross-district leadership collaboration
Propose a LEAD session →
The day

What you'll actually be doing from 7:45 to 3:15.

  1. 7:45

    Coffee, name tags, and the first "oh hey, you're here too."

    Registration & networking
  2. 8:30

    Welcome & opening remarks.

    All attendees
  3. 8:45

    Keynote — setting the room on fire.

    Speaker revealed July 15.

    Keynote
  4. 10:00

    Breakout Session #1 — pick your room. Or wander.

    Choose your track
  5. 11:00

    Breakout Session #2 — go deeper or change rooms.

    Choose your track
  6. 12:00

    Lunch — most ideas at this summit will be born here, not in sessions.

    Networking
  7. 1:00

    K-12 Education Panel.

    Cross-district leaders on the questions that matter.

    All attendees
  8. 2:10

    Unconference — the agenda is yours.

    Three parallel rooms. No slides. No demos.

    See the three rooms →
  9. 3:00

    Close — you leave with one thing. That's the deal.

    Closing remarks · 3:00–3:15
2:10 PM — 3:00 PM

From 2:10 to 3:00, the agenda is yours.

Three parallel rooms. Attendee-led. No slides, no demos. Facilitators keep the conversation moving. Each room produces a one-page summary, emailed within 48 hours.

Room A 01

Open Floor

"What changed in your classroom this year because of AI?"

Tap to peek inside →
Room B 02

What AI Can and Cannot Replace

"Where does the human teacher become irreplaceable?"

Tap to peek inside →
Room C 03

Ethical Use of AI in K-12

"What should a 14-year-old never have to do with AI?"

Tap to peek inside →

Every conversation produces a one-page summary. In your inbox within 48 hours.

Voices on stage

New names are coming online every week.

We're asking K-12 teachers and leaders with one usable thing to share. Confirmed presenters revealed July 15.

$500 honorarium for confirmed presenters. An additional $300 travel support if you're coming from outside New York State. We pay because your time is real.

Doors open in

-- Days
:
-- Hours
:
-- Minutes
:
-- Seconds

Thursday, August 27, 2026 · BuffSci Medaille Campus · Buffalo NY

Call for proposals · open now

Proposals close June 5.

If you have one usable thing to share — a tool, a method, a hard-won lesson — we want to hear it. Audience is 90% K-12 classroom teachers and building leaders. Speak to them.

-- Days
:
-- Hours
:
-- Minutes
:
-- Seconds
01

Teacher-first.

If you wouldn't say it to someone with 27 students and 4 minutes between bells, edit it out.

02

Show, don't tell.

Every session should have one moment where teachers do something — not just hear something.

03

One usable thing.

Send people home with something they can use Monday morning. The summit is judged Monday morning, not Friday afternoon.

What we'll need from you

Email to ersoy@buffsci.org. We confirm placement on a rolling basis, no later than July 15.

  • Session title under 12 words
  • Description — what teachers will do, not what you'll cover (150 words max)
  • Format — breakout, practitioner's workshop, or panel
  • Materials needs (laptops, tools, pre-reading)
  • First-person bio (75 words)
  • High-resolution headshot
$500 Honorarium for confirmed presenters
+ $300 Travel support if coming from outside NY State

If your work fits the spirit of a track but doesn't match a listed topic, propose it anyway. Reviewing on a rolling basis. Confirmations by July 15, 2026.

In collaboration with

This is what regional collaboration looks like.

Host BuffSci & RocSci Charter School Network
Academic UB CATT Office of Curriculum, Assessment & Teaching Transformation
Regional Tech Buffalo Regional technology coalition

The future of education
won't be written in San Francisco.

It'll be written here.

Or propose a session

AI Powered. Human Driven.

--d to propose