Educators make room for AI in the classroom

Ian Strever (left), listened as Richard Davis spoke at the Salisbury Forum’s discussion of artifical intelligence Friday, Sept. 27.
Patrick L. Sullivan
Ian Strever (left), listened as Richard Davis spoke at the Salisbury Forum’s discussion of artifical intelligence Friday, Sept. 27.
SALISBURY — Artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay, and educators are gingerly adapting.
That was the message from the Salisbury Forum’s panel at Salisbury School Friday, Sept. 27.
The panel included Ian Strever, Principal of Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS); Richard Davis, Dean of Academic Life at The Hotchkiss School; Sarah Mulrooney, Dean of Academic Life at Salisbury School; and Matt Mervis, Director of AI Strategy at EdAdvance.
Jonathan Costa, Executive Director at EdAdvance, moderated.
“AI is suddenly everywhere,” Costa began. “ChatGPT is the tip of the iceberg.”
Cotsa described generative AI as “giant synthesizing machines” that “crawl” through enormous amounts of data.
“It takes your prompt and is really good at predicting what you want to see.”
Costa said the advent of AI is “the final curtain for rote learning.” AI will reduce the time it takes to complete a task, combined with a “higher order of engagement.”
And AI works at incredible speeds.
“My fear is that schools won’t change fast enough.”
“The implications are endless,” Costa said, with “great benefits” and “dark corners.”
He asked the panelists how AI is being used in their schools. Salisbury School’s Mulrooney said she first heard “rumblings” about ChatGPT in November of 2022, and the immediate concern was cheating or plagiarism.
“We spent some time on prevention,” she said, and then moved into finding more about AI and how it was being used elsewhere.
For the 2023-24 school year, the attitude was one of “curiosity and discernment.”
In the current school year, Mulrooney asked teachers for their opinions and was immediately met with resistance. “‘ I don’t touch it, and I dont let my students touch it’ were the first responses.”
Davis, from The Hotchkiss School, said he started hearing about AI during the winter holiday break in 2022.
Hotchkiss has not banned AI. Davis said the emphasis has been one of exploration.
He noted one immediate consequence of the rise of AI.
“Evidence of learning changed overnight for the written word.”
“We’re trying to get people to use it to see what it can do,” he continued. “We’re still in that place.”
“It’s pretty exciting — and terrifying.”
Strever, from HVRHS, said, “I’m pretty sure it gave at least one English teacher a coronary” when the AI issue surfaced. “We have it as a brainstorming tool, an idea generator.”
The current attitude is that AI “is not the best thing, not the worst thing. We’re somewhere in the middle.”
Costa noted that New York City public schools tried a ban on the use of AI (since modified) and asked the educators if their schools have considered going that route.
Mulrooney said Salisbury School won’t ban AI, but will police it. “The onus is more on teachers on what the boundaries are.”
Davis said AI can be used by students to “bypass or enhance.”
“So it’s about clarity,” with teachers setting clear rules on AI use.
Strever agreed, and said that AI cannot replace passion.
“When a student is passionate about a topic, they will write reams about it.”
Costa said that many technologies act as “intensifiers,” and that AI will make good teachers better while alarming lazy teachers.
Mervis used the example of a regular newsletter put out by a teacher. Much of the work that goes into the newsletter is repetitive and time-consuming. A teacher using AI could get the tedious work done in a fraction of the time, and use that saved time “to do something useful.”
Jonathan Costa (at left) moderated a Salisbury Forum panel on artifical intelligence Friday, Sept. 27. The panelists were (from left) Ian Strever, Richard Davis, Matt Mervis and Sarah Mulrooney.Patrick L. Sullivan
Costa asked how AI can be used in instruction. Mulrooney gave an example. In a unit involving debate, the class could let AI have the actual debate, and then, using their own critical thinking skills, “analyze the arguments and discourse.”
Davis, who teaches ancient Greek, said he typically spends a lot of time coming up with sentences and paragraphs for his students to work on after they’ve exhausted the material in the textbook.
An initial attempt at using ChatGPT to come up with samples wasn’t successful, but a subsequent try with another program “worked pretty well.”
“It was the first time AI was a time-saver.”
Strever said he was interested to see how HVRHS photography students caught on to AI’s possibilities and began using it in production.
Costa asked the panel about their hopes and fears for AI.
“Neuralink,” said Strever, referring to Elon Musk’s neurotechnology company. “The possibility this ends up embedded in your head is terrifying.”
Davis said AI’s potential for personalized learning is “super-exciting.”
On the downside, he said he worries about “the human element,” particularly gullibility and a propensity to take short cuts.
Mulrooney said she is worried about the pace of change, but she is seeing the utility of AI in real-life situations.
Mervis said making dire comparisons to dystopian science fiction works is “a way to avoid talking about bias, energy consumption” and other AI issues.
Ultimately, he hopes AI “will free up teachers to do something meaningful.”
LAKEVILLE — Barbara Meyers DelPrete, 84, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, at her home. She was the beloved wife of George R. DelPrete for 62 years.
Mrs. DelPrete was born in Burlington, Iowa, on May 31, 1941, daughter of the late George and Judy Meyers. She lived in California for a time and had been a Lakeville resident for the past 55 years.
Survivors, in addition to her husband, George, include son, George R. DelPrete II, daughter, Jena DelPrete Allee, and son Stephen P. DelPrete. Grandchildren; Trey, Cassidy, and Meredith DelPrete, Jack, Will and Finn Allee, and Ali and Nicholas DelPrete.
A Funeral Mass was held at St. Mary’s Church, Lakeville, on Saturday, Oct. 4. May she Rest in Peace.
Ryan Funeral Home, 255 Main St., Lakeville, is in care of arrangements.
To offer an online condolence, please visit ryanfhct.com
SHARON — Shirley Anne Wilbur Perotti, daughter of George and Mabel (Johnson) Wilbur, the first girl born into the Wilbur family in 65 years, passed away on Oct. 5, 2025, at Noble Horizons.
Shirley was born on Aug. 19, 1948 at Sharon Hospital.
She was raised on her parents’ poultry farm (Odge’s Eggs, Inc.).
After graduating from Housatonic Valley Regional High School, she worked at Litchfield County National Bank and Colonial Bank.
She married the love of her life, John, on Aug. 16, 1969, and they lived on Sharon Mountain for more than 50 years.
Shirley enjoyed creating the annual family Christmas card, which was a coveted keepsake.She also enjoyed having lunch once a month with her best friends, Betty Kowalski, Kathy Ducillo, and Paula Weir.
In addition to John, she is survived by her three children and their families; Sarah Medeiros, her husband, Geoff, and their sons, Nick and Andrew, of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Shelby Diorio, her husband, Mike, and their daughters, Addie, Lainey and Lyla, of East Canaan, Connecticut,Jeffrey Perotti, his wife, Melissa, and their daughters, Annie, Lucy and Winnie, of East Canaan. Shirley also leaves her two brothers, Edward Wilbur and his wife Joan, and David Wilbur; two nieces, three nephews, and several cousins.
At Shirley’s request, services will be private.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Sharon Woman’s Club Scholarship Fund, PO Box 283, Sharon, CT 06069.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
MILLERTON — Veronica Lee “Ronnie” Silvernale, 78, a lifelong area resident died Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, at Sharon Hospital in Sharon, Connecticut. Mrs. Silvernale had a long career at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, where she served as a respected team leader in housekeeping and laundry services for over eighteen years. She retired in 2012.
Born Oct. 19, 1946, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, she was the daughter of the late Bradley C. and Sophie (Debrew) Hosier, Sr. Following her graduation from high school and attending college, she married Jack Gerard Silvernale on June 15, 1983 in Millerton, New York. Their marriage lasted thirty-five years until Jack’s passing on July 28, 2018.
Ronnie is survived by her daughter, Jaime Silvernale (Wm. MacDaniel, Sr.) of Millerton, her beloved grandson, Wm. MacDaniel, Jr.; two special nieces, Shannon and Rebecca and a special nephew Sean Hosier. In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her brother, Bradley C. Hosier, Jr. and her dear friend Ruth Fullerton of Millerton.
Visitation was private. A celebration of Ronnie’s life will be held in the future. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546. To send an online condolence to the family or to plant a tree in Ronnie’s memory, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
Christine Gevert, Crescendo’s artistic director, is delighted to announce the start of this musical organization’s 22nd year of operation. The group’s first concert of the season will feature Latin American early chamber music, performed Oct. 18 and 19, on indigenous Andean instruments as well as the virginal, flute, viola and percussion. Gevert will perform at the keyboard, joined by Chilean musicians Gonzalo Cortes and Carlos Boltes on wind and stringed instruments.
This concert, the first in a series of nine, will be held on Oct. 18 at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, and Oct. 19 at Trinity Church in Lakeville.
For those unfamiliar with Crescendo, the award-winning organization was founded in 2003 and brings lesser-known works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods — along with contemporary fusion pieces — to new life. Its performances often blend classical composition with nontraditional instrumentation for a refreshing new take on an established body of work.
Gevert, who is German, Chilean and American, is a conductor, keyboardist and musical scholar. As the multi-national, multi-lingual (German, Spanish and English) creative director, she is a veritable whirlwind of talent, professionalism and inspiration who conceives of new musical treats for her audiences. She also hires and nourishes local talent, sources internationally known vocal and instrumental professionals, and provides her audiences with well-researched program notes for each concert, packaged in lush, full-color programs that resemble illuminated manuscripts.
“It is the excitement about and dedication to the music, along with the prerequisite vocal and instrumental talent, that characterizes a Crescendo member,” said Gevert. “I don’t care about things like how old or young you are or where you’re from — it’s all about bringing these performers together to provide unforgettable musical experiences for its audiences.”
“Traditional audiences for classical music performances tend to skew older,” Gevert continued. “For that reason, I’ve embarked on an effort to reach younger listeners, and have done things like taken a Crescendo choral group to perform at Housatonic Regional High School. I’ve also launched an effort to recruit and train young singers in Baroque singing techniques so they can perform with our existing choral group.”
The upcoming 2025-26 season includes, among other performances, a solo recital and benefit concert on Nov. 22 by the international Baroque opera star and countertenor Nicholas Tamagna. The curated program will include works by Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi.
Two dazzling Christmas concerts follow: on Dec. 6 and 7, Crescendo presents J.S. Bach’s “Sweet Comfort” cantata and Mass in G minor, featuring the full chorus and soloists with a period instrument orchestra. On Dec. 21, the annual Holiday Concert will be presented: “A Tapestry of Traditions: Unraveling the History of Christmas Carols,” with the entire Crescendo vocal ensemble and Gevert on organ.
For the full schedule, concerts details and ticket information, visit: www.crescendomusic.org