A group of Hartselle High School students is turning classroom innovation into a real-world public safety tool — and local leaders are taking notice.
Four students — Cole Miles, Lachlan Kennedy, Oliver Ambrose and Ethan Haynes — recently presented their AI-powered storm shelter app to the Morgan County Commission, showcasing a platform designed to help residents quickly locate safe shelter during severe weather.
The app, developed through the school’s artificial intelligence program, provides real-time access to storm shelter information across Morgan County, allowing users to enter their location and find the nearest available option.
Students say the goal is simple: make critical safety information easier to access when it matters most.
The platform includes details on shelter capacity and whether locations are pet-friendly, along with integrated radar, weather updates and guidance on preparing an emergency supply kit. It also features a 10-day forecast that updates automatically each day.
Following their presentation to county leaders on Feb. 24, the students also shared the project with the Hartselle City Schools Board of Education.
The app is expected to be made available through the Morgan County Emergency Management Agency website, giving residents direct access to the tool.
According to local reports, the project began as part of a pilot AI program at Hartselle High School in partnership with the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering in Huntsville.
Instructor Bucky Garner said the program encourages students to identify real community challenges and develop practical solutions.
“In the pilot we’ve been learning to teach machines different things and train machines … to reach out and identify community challenges for our students to work to find AI solutions that would solve those problems,” Garner said.
Garner created an AI “person” called “Mayor Jim,” which analyzed local data and identified severe weather preparedness as a key issue for students to address.
Using Google’s Gemini AI platform, the team built an initial version of the app in about a week before spending several months refining it, including integrating national radar and ensuring compatibility with the Morgan County Emergency Management Agency’s systems.
“It’s like an AI program that Google’s made and if you put it on a Canvas mode … you can generate python code or HTML code,” Miles said.
While the current version focuses on Morgan County shelters, the students plan to expand the tool statewide and eventually make it available through the Apple App Store.
“Our next steps for this website, we’re going to be eventually integrating the website into the Apple App Store so people all across the globe can go onto the App Store and view it there,” Ambrose said.
The team has also entered the Presidential AI Challenge, a national competition recognizing student-driven solutions to real-world problems, with winners expected to be announced later this spring.
As severe weather remains a constant threat across North Alabama, the students’ work offers a glimpse at how emerging technology can deliver faster, more accessible safety tools when residents need them most.
Sherri Blevins is a reporter for 256 Today.
