I work at MARS Microschool, so I want to be upfront about that from the beginning. Jennifer Wolverton is not just my boss. She is also my friend and the person who brought my son from hating school to thriving in it. Because of that, I have had a front-row seat into what she is building and why it matters.
MARS Microschool was recently named Alabama’s state-level winner in the Presidential AI Challenge, a national competition recognizing excellence in artificial intelligence education. MARS won the Educator Track III A, which means the school is advancing to the regional round.
I am proud of Jennifer, but more than that, I believe this moment says something important about where education in Alabama is headed.
MARS did not come out of a system or a committee. It came from one person recognizing that the traditional model was not serving students well, especially in a world where technology and artificial intelligence are reshaping nearly every industry.
Jennifer is an engineer by training, and she approaches education the same way she approaches engineering: identify the problem, design a better solution, and build it.
What she built does not look like a conventional school. MARS was intentionally designed with workforce readiness in mind, recognizing that students are stepping into a future that is already being shaped for them and is changing rapidly. The goal has never been to prepare students for the past, but to equip them for the world they are living in.
As Alabama continues to debate education reform and school choice, I see MARS as an example of what happens when policy makes room for something different. The CHOOSE Act was designed to give families more options, removing financial barriers that often keep them locked into a single system. Because MARS accepts CHOOSE Act funding, families who never would have access to a school like this now do.
I have watched that impact up close. The CHOOSE Act gave families the flexibility to choose a school that better fits their children, and it gave Jennifer the freedom to build without the bureaucratic constraints that so often limit what schools can become. That freedom matters.
Without layers of compliance that tend to reward sameness over effectiveness, Jennifer has been able to design learning around curiosity, problem-solving, and real-world skills, including artificial intelligence. That autonomy benefits students most of all. It allows learning to stay responsive, relevant, and aligned with the realities students will face after graduation. The result is a school that looks and feels different from conventional models and one that is now being recognized nationally.
School choice supporters often argue that when parents are trusted, better outcomes follow than when decisions are centralized and distant. MARS is a real-world example of that argument in practice.
Jennifer has an impressive background as a published author and a member of the Innovate Alabama Network. Under her leadership, MARS received a VELA grant, making this school possible. She recently spoke at the International School Choice and Reform Conference in Rome, Italy.
But if you ask Jennifer what makes MARS successful, she will not point to credentials or grants. She will point to the freedom to build with intention, flexibility and trust rather than constraint; the freedom to build a school aligned with skills students actually need; the freedom to treat artificial intelligence not as a buzzword or a threat, but as a tool students can understand, question, and engage with responsibly.
As MARS prepares for the regional round of the Presidential AI Challenge, the school is continuing to grow. Families looking for a new kind of education, including those approved for CHOOSE Act funding, can learn more about enrollment and apply for the upcoming school year.
I believe the story unfolding at MARS is worth paying attention to, for when parents are empowered and founders are free to build, small schools can produce outsized results. And Alabama students can compete, not someday, but now, in the technologies shaping their futures.
Tanya Waller is a wife, homeschool mom, and the Sales and Marketing Director for MARS Microschool in Huntsville, Alabama. She writes about education, school choice, and innovation from firsthand experience. The views expressed are her own. To connect with the author, email [email protected].
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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