In-depth case
Martina: practicing the hardest conversation before you have it
We wrapped up the Martina pilot, an AI simulator that helps teachers practice how to support a student in crisis. Here's what it left us.
Edmundo SpohrSeptember 15, 2026 · 6 min read
In 30 seconds
- 01You don't learn a conversation like this by reading: you learn it by practicing, with no risk to any real person.
- 02AI doesn't replace anyone: it trains the people who provide support.
- 03What matters most isn't the technology, but that teachers feel better prepared.
On September 4, in Providencia, we wrapped up the Martina pilot together with Fundación Summer. It was the closing event of the OASIS Workshop project with a chatbot training pilot, funded by the Gobierno de Santiago's Fondo Comunidad Activa, in five high schools in La Reina and Providencia.
The problem: you don't learn this by reading
When a student tells a teacher they're not okay, that moment matters a lot. And it's very hard to know what to say. A forty-page protocol doesn't prepare you for that conversation, and practicing with real students isn't an option.
Summer has a method for this, OASIS, which trains school communities to support students and refer them in time. The challenge was taking it further than its facilitators can reach.
What Martina is
Martina is a simulator that trains teachers in emotional support. It simulates a student in crisis, and the teacher practices how to support her, with instant feedback and no risk to any real person.
MMarcela· high school homeroom teacher11:47 PM
A student tells you they're not okay, and you don't know what to say.
- She reacts like a person: she opens up when she's supported well and shuts down when she's pressured.
- At the end, each teacher gets a report with no grade: what they did well and what to try next time.
- If the person practicing shows real distress, the exercise stops and help is offered.
What the pilot left us
By the numbers
- 1
5 workshops in 5 high schools
In La Reina and Providencia, with teachers, school support staff, and leadership teams.
- 2
250+ practice sessions
And 119 of them with a full evaluation.
- 3
97% of conversations
Managed to shift Martina's emotional state: the character changed depending on how she was supported.
- 4
75 people at the same time
Practicing live during the closing event.
The Municipality of Providencia covered the closing event on its website, and from now on staff at two of its schools can keep using Martina. Read the Municipality's article.
What stayed with us most
What stayed with me most isn't the technology. It's that the teachers told us clearly they felt better prepared to support their students. To be their OASIS.
Edmundo Spohr
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