South Dade Senior High School students used AI tools to build Stride AI, a real, working prototype that helps athletes track performance, analyze training data, and receive personalized improvements. The project was developed through NAF's Academy of Information Technology (AOIT) pathway and presented at the 22nd Annual NAF Benefit in New York City.
What Is Stride AI?
Stride AI is an AI-powered prototype designed to help athletes track performance, analyze data, and receive personalized training insights.
The app was created by students Kameron R, Nathaniel T, Akanni J, and Athziri M. They are part of South Dade Senior High School's NAF AOIT, a career-focused pathway that connects classroom learning with real industry skills.
The project is still being iterated, but it already demonstrates how students can use emerging technologies to solve practical problems in sports and wellness.
How Did Students Build Stride AI?
To create a working prototype of their idea, students used Lovable — a classroom-safe AI vibe coding tool, which is made student-friendly via imagi. imagi is an education technology platform that gives students access to AI tools, such as Lovable, within a structured, privacy-compliant environment that follows COPPA, FERPA, CIPA, and GDPR standards.
"Lovable helped us create a prototype based on our innovative idea," said Akanni J, one of the students on the team.
Using Lovable, students were able to turn their concept into a working app prototype, understand how an application is structured and built, experiment with AI-generated design, and iterate on their product based on feedback.
"It was really helpful because it made creating ideas, designs, and layouts way faster and easier," Akanni said.
Where Did Students Present Stride AI?
On May 6, the student team represented their school at the 22nd Annual NAF Benefit in New York City, held at the historic Metropolitan Club. NAF is a national leader in career-connected education that expands access to real-world learning opportunities for high school students. NAF has grown from one NAF Academy of Finance in New York City to hundreds of academies across the country, focusing on growing industries including finance, hospitality & tourism, information technology, engineering, and health sciences; and support programs of study that are aligned with the National Career Clusters Framework.
The students were accompanied by Mark Godinez, AOIT Lead, and Patricia Pasarin, AI Academy teacher.
Through live demonstrations, the team explained not only what their app does, but how it was built and why it matters.
What Did Students Learn From Building Stride AI?
"We learned the value of AI tools to help us create solutions for real-world problems," said Akanni J.
"Design and presentation are super important because they make the app feel more real and professional," Akanni added.
Beyond technical skills, the project gave students hands-on practice in problem identification, solution design, product storytelling, public speaking, responsible AI use, and, of course, collaboration and teamwork. These skills connect directly to future careers in technology, sports, wellness, data, and entrepreneurship.
Why Do Safe AI Tools Matter in Student Learning?
Safe AI tools allow students to explore real innovation while staying within a structured, age-appropriate learning environment. For schools and families, safety means more than just access to AI — it means protecting student data and following privacy regulations. Imagi ensures compliance with COPPA, FERPA, CIPA, and GDPR, creating a trusted space where students can create confidently. In addition, by removing the community element, imagi is helping students focus on guided, creative building in a more controlled learning environment.
When students have access to safe, classroom-ready AI tools, they move beyond learning about technology in theory. They practice building, testing, and explaining real solutions.
Student Q&A: Building Stride AI
Q: How did you come up with Stride AI?
A: "I've always been into running, so I wanted to make an app that could help athletes train smarter using AI and performance data."
Q: How did the idea change while building it?
A: "At first, it was just supposed to track runs, but while building it I added more features like AI insights, training recommendations, and performance analysis."
Q: Who is the app for?
A: “It's mainly for runners and athletes who want to improve and understand their training better.”
Q: Did you learn anything while creating Stride AI?
A: " I learned that design and presentation are super important because they make the app feel more real and professional."
Q: Did the AI create anything unexpected?
A: "Definitely. Some of the logos and designs the AI made actually gave me new ideas and helped shape the overall style of the app."
Q: What was it like using classroom-safe Lovable through imagi?
A: "It was really helpful because it made creating ideas, designs, and layouts way faster and easier."
Explore the full Stride AI student portfolio to see how the team documented their idea, prototype, and learning process.
