{"id":294009,"date":"2026-05-15T04:35:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T04:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/294009\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T04:35:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T04:35:16","slug":"clear-creek-isd-students-shape-the-future-of-health-care-in-ai-hackathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/294009\/","title":{"rendered":"Clear Creek ISD students shape the future of health care in AI hackathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNearly 200 Clear Creek ISD<\/a> students in grades 5-8 participated in the inaugural artificial intelligence, or AI, hackathon, hosted by the district<\/a> on April 11. Students from 27 schools were challenged to work in teams to develop AI-powered apps designed to improve health care, financial literacy and education.<\/p>\n

Houston Methodist Clear Lake served as the presenting sponsor for the health care challenge, mentoring students as they used AI tools and coding skills to develop apps that encourage children to be more involved with their health.<\/p>\n

For Heidi Reigel, chief operating officer at Houston Methodist Clear Lake, the hackathon demonstrated how quickly students<\/a> can engage with complex problem-solving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese kids were so excited to be able to solve a problem with technology. The excitement in the room was as palpable as being at a sporting event,\u201d she said. \u201cI was so surprised to learn that some of these kids had never used AI or worked with code.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event <\/p>\n

As a judge for the health care projects, Reigel evaluated student apps based on creativity, teamwork<\/a>, functionality and how well they addressed real-world health challenges. She said one of the most surprising outcomes was how broadly students defined health.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have never thought that these kids would have understood what healthy habits were,\u201d she said. \u201cBut many of them weren\u2019t just nutrition-focused.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reigel highlighted a project that took a comprehensive approach to health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt included mental health, spiritual health, nutritional health and financial health all in one app,\u201d she said. \u201cIt incorporated a game in which users earned points, and then it would suggest recipes based on users\u2019 preferences. They were very thoughtful on what health meant to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reigel said she was looking for students who demonstrated resilience, and she saw exactly that during the event. One group, she noted, had their project fail just minutes before presenting but they stayed calm throughout the setback.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really demonstrated that it doesn\u2019t matter what age you are,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s a skill that we look for when we\u2019re looking for employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s changing? <\/p>\n

While the hackathon focused on student innovation, Reigel said it also reflects how AI is already transforming health care<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She explained that Houston Methodist uses AI in preventative analytics and operational efficiency, rather than as a replacement for human work.<\/p>\n

In operating rooms, AI systems track workflow patterns, equipment use and patient movement to help improve efficiency and safety, Reigel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not taking work away from us,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s helping us be much more efficient and effective at the work we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also of note<\/p>\n

AI is also being used in patient monitoring through wearable devices that detect subtle changes in vital signs over time, helping to identify potential issues earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s allowing us not to have to wait until they have a physical presentation,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s looking for those slight variations that we wouldn\u2019t necessarily understand are happening \u201d<\/p>\n

One of the biggest shifts is in clinical documentation, Reigel said. AI tools are now helping reduce the time spent charting through \u201cambient listening\u201d systems that document patient conversations in real time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s actually incredibly time consuming for physicians, nurses and other clinical staff to do documentation. [AI] has taken away so much computer time that they can actually spend more valuable time with the patients,\u201d she said. \u201cAnytime you can let them be a nurse again, it\u2019s a big win for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The future<\/p>\n

\u201cAI is happening so fast, and the implementation has to happen as quickly.\u201d she said. \u201cI would say the challenge is not necessarily what the technology is doing for us. It\u2019s how you balance the amount of change your employees can handle.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Houston Methodist, Reigel said balance is supported through a \u201cperformance excellence\u201d culture built on Lean management principles. The approach encourages frontline staff to identify challenges in their daily work and actively participate in solving them, rather than receiving top-down directives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask our frontline staff to tell us what the \u2018pebbles in your shoe’ are, which is essentially the challenge that [students] were given for this app,\u201d she said. \u201cTo be able to help a community create that skill is really important.\u201d\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly 200 Clear Creek ISD students in grades 5-8 participated in the inaugural artificial intelligence, or AI, hackathon,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[51519,38102,51523,51521,51520,51522,56,58,57],"class_list":["post-294009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-clear-creek-board-of-trustees","tag-clear-creek-isd","tag-clear-creek-isd-2026-school-year","tag-clear-creek-isd-community-impact","tag-clear-creek-isd-meeting","tag-clear-creek-isd-new-courses","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}