By Hannah Barrett

As we walk through our hallways, viewing student work that proud teachers displayed
outside their classrooms and club flyers posted on the walls, then turn our heads to digital
dashboards throughout our classrooms or library, we are met with a choice: Do we want to
see a reflection of the student in our school or a reflection of quick-fix graphics?
As AI becomes the “fast food” of content creation, Hamden High stands at a crossroads.
While AI can be helpful in many ways, it cannot capture the spirit of the talents our
students have to oƯer. It is time to show more student-made artwork, photography, editing,
and voices over the halls of Hamden High School.
In a world where people are confused about what they see online, whether it is videos,
computer generated pictures, or other AI content, a student’s “imperfect” sketch or raw
photograph carries more weight. It says, “I was there. I made this.” Promoting these talents
on our media platforms can make a huge impact and inspire other students.
Hamden High is a place for growth. If we outsource creativity, we rob ourselves of
opportunities as future photographers, video editors, artists, actors, musicians, audio
engineers, computer designers, etc., to build portfolios and to grow our talents.
We should value the “messy” creative process of all student talents. We should be silly,
have fun, show our creativity and talent. We want to outweigh the bad negative response
our school gets and show how great we really are. We only have so many years at Hamden
High. Let’s leave some big footprints behind.