DEC. 9, 2025 — Save the date for our first annual Flight Path 2030 Community Forum!
Transforming Red Wing Public Schools
into a Center of Excellence
in Computer Science, Data Science,
and Artificial Intelligence
The 2025-2026 district kickoff celebrated Dwight and Dian Diercks’ $3.2 million pledge. Pictured are Red Wing High School Assistant Principal Robin Pagel, Superintendent Bob Jaszczak, Winger Flight Paths Coordinator Mick Wendland, Principal Joshua Fuchs, Dwight Diercks, Dian Diercks,
Assistant Principal Mandy Stokes, Director of Teaching & Learning Emily Seefeldt and consultant Laura Schmidt. Photo by Stacy Bengs
- New guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence throughout Red Wing Public Schools (applies to both students and staff).
- Assignments that advance AI literacy, data literacy, and/or “computational thinking” in support of the competencies found in the RWPS Portrait of a Graduate.
- Revised outcomes in required Grade 8 and Grade 11 electives to include ethical use of AI inside and outside of the classroom (and as part of academic and career planning).
- New opportunity to join the Aspirations in Computing Community at the national level.
- Scholarship opportunity for high school students to attend MSOE Residential Summer Programs (including train travel stipend). Applications will open Dec. 1, 2025.
- Registration for new courses for 2026-27 to include, but not limited to, AP Computer Science Principles.
- New and revised Winger Flight Paths for 2026-27 to include AI Integrated Computing Education (AICE).
- And more to come!
AICE (AI-Integrated Computing Education) – A districtwide framework that builds three universal habits – computational thinking, data fluency, and responsible AI use – into every subject for every learner, while offering elective pathways in Computer Science, Data Science, and advanced AI.
AICE Hub – Red Wing Public Schools’ central support team charged with turning the Flight Paths 2030 plan into action by coordinating tools, training, pilots, and feedback.
AI literacy – Knowing what AI can (and can’t) do, how it works at a surface level, and how to use it responsibly, safely, and ethically.
Computational literacy – Feeling comfortable using computing tools – spreadsheets, block code, Python, dashboards – to explore ideas or create artefacts in any subject.
Computational thinking – Breaking a big problem into smaller parts, spotting patterns, building step-by-step solutions, and checking for efficiency.
Computer science – The study of algorithms, programming, hardware, and theory of computation.
Data fluency / data literacy – Reading, questioning, and communicating with data to make sound, ethical decisions.
Data science – Collecting, cleaning, analyzing, and visualizing data to uncover insights.
Generative AI – Models (ChatGPT, DALL·E, Gemini, etc.) that create new text, images, code, or audio from prompts.
Human‑in‑the‑loop: A responsible employee supervises AI use, remains the decision‑maker, and verifies outputs.
Traditional AI – Rules-based or classic machine-learning systems that classify, predict, or optimize (e.g., spam filters, recommendation engines).
Clara Ballard — RWHS school counselor
Bill Emery — RWHS industrial technology teacher
Christina Frye — RWHS school counselor
Jeff Finholm — RWHS math teacher
Joshua Fuchs — RWHS principal
Sam Graves — RWHS grade social studies and Success 8 teacher
Molly Kiefer — RWHS family and consumer science teacher
Anne Rohn — RWHS biology teacher
Anne Robertson — district communications manager
Emily Seefeldt — director of teaching & learning
Mitch Skeen — RWHS Prairie Island liaison
Mandy Stokes — RWHS assistant principal
Nathan Stout — district technology specialist
Sheena Tisland — Tower View English language arts teacher
Mick Wendland — Winger Flight Paths coordinator
RWPS Receives Groundbreaking $3.2 Million Gift to Launch AI Education Initiative
Red Wing, Minn. — July 28, 2025
Red Wing High School alumnus Dwight Diercks has pledged $3.2 million to help Red Wing Public Schools become a center of excellence in artificial intelligence education. This is one of the largest gifts in district history.
Diercks, a 1986 graduate of Red Wing High School and senior vice president of software engineering at NVIDIA, made the five-year commitment with his wife, Dian, to support “Flight Path 2030,” a districtwide initiative aimed at preparing students for a future shaped by AI. The pledge comes at a time when schools nationwide are exploring how to responsibly integrate artificial intelligence into teaching and learning.
School Board members formally accepted the gift at their meeting on Monday, July 28.
“This generous gift will help us equip students to use artificial intelligence ethically, responsibly, and creatively,” said Superintendent Bob Jaszczak. “It also empowers our staff to reimagine what learning can look like now, and into the future.”
Flight Path 2030 will embed AI-integrated computing education across all grade levels, while offering a specialized “AICE Flight Path” for tech-focused students.
AI-integrated computing education is a progressive, interdisciplinary approach that embeds age-appropriate computing, data, and AI literacy into core subjects and electives — empowering students to understand, evaluate, and responsibly apply emerging technologies across disciplines.
The goal: By 2030, every graduate will be digitally fluent, ethically grounded, and workforce-ready.
Diercks credits Red Wing Central High School teacher Ron Gray, whom he once called “the best math teacher in all of Red Wing,” for inspiring his career in technology. He studied computer science and engineering at Milwaukee School of Engineering and now leads a global software engineering team at NVIDIA, a world leader in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
“This extraordinary gift lays the groundwork for bold thinking about how we prepare students for the future and support the staff who guide them. We’re deeply grateful to Dwight and Dian Diercks for investing in our district’s future,” said Board Chair Ryan Riester.
The Flight Path 2030 vision was developed with strategic guidance from Laura Schmidt, who supported the district in designing an initiative grounded in its educational goals and aligned with the Diercks family’s philanthropic priorities.
“This is a transformative moment for our schools and our community,” Jaszczak said. “We look forward to sharing more in September as the initiative takes shape.”
