Art Ed student first to graduate with AI certification

Art education major Annabelle Matthews is graduating Spring 2025, carrying not only an excellent education from Minnesota State Moorhead into her career, but a certificate to use artificial intelligence in teaching. Annabelle is the first student to walk across Moorhead's stage with this unique skill in hand, and it enables her to better meet her students' educational needs.

BFA in Art Education

"I have a lot of students from different cultures, so I'm able to research with AI and figure out ways to best support them and adjust assignments to meet them where they are at," she says. 

Moorhead is aiming to lead the Fargo-Moorhead area in equipping students to use artificial intelligence tools in the workplace. The implementation of these tools better prepare students to leverage AI in their professions, and to use it ethically.

 Professor of art education Bradley Bachmeier is an early adopter, providing the opportunity for students like Annabelle to attain the Magic School AI Certification in his Advanced Methods (ART 402) course. 

"Throughout the process, Annabelle learned how to use AI in her work as a future educator. This can be used to help lesson plan, differentiate, write assessments, write individualized education programs, communicate clearly, and more," Bachmeier says.

As Annabelle was trying to decide what career field to pursue, she looked at what she loved most: creating art. Annabelle mainly paints, but also enjoys ceramics, printmaking, and sculpture.

Artistic talent runs in the family, with her mother being a professional painter and father being a photography professor. Teaching does as well, with her grandfather and great grandfather being former music teachers. Annabelle decided to combine the two to teach what she loves, and continue the traditions of her family.

"I feel like every teacher comes from a long line of teachers, and I definitely fit the trope," she says.

In her time at Moorhead, both the classes and events offered have prepared her for her career. Art-A-Fair is a yearly high school art workshop and exhibition put on by the university and the Lake Region Arts Council. Students and faculty advise and teach high schoolers on their chosen art forms, and Annabelle was able to be a part of it in January.

"Art-A-Fair prepared me to actually teach high school and be comfortable with it," Annabelle says.

Beyond her education, Moorhead has also been a place for her to find community and a sense of belonging. "I love MSUM. I've met some incredible, awesome, amazing people here," she says.

With an AI certification in hand, she ushers in a new tradition for education students at Moorhead: being equipped with AI tools to better educate the next generation of students.

Annabelle has already been able to practice what she's learned through student teaching in spring of 2025. She has used the AI Magic School to translate assignments and lecture notes into students' native languages to help them better understand the material.

She has also used it to provide Individual Education Programs (IEP) for students who have physical impairments or don't speak English. This tool is helping her make education more accessible and personalized for her students.

"It's a nice tool to be able to lean on to best support every student in the room," Annabelle says.