The end of the academic year is upon us, and that comes with celebration and festivities. But what is truly in store for the end of the year? And what about the next? An interview with Dr. Angela and a look at the event calendar reveals what you can expect.

Looking back at the academic year and how Dr. Angela feels about it, she views this year as a complete success. She was happy with the return of the SDL Showcase, the Move-a-thon, and all the other activities we did this year. The magic really comes from experiencing these events in person, rather than watching from a screen. However, she had this to say.

But what do the final days of school have in store? A ton of field trips. As mentioned before, a lot of our field trips this year were condensed into the end, giving teachers trouble with keeping track of who was here and who was out on a field trip. Planned field trips include: fourth grade going to Black Acre, sixth grade going to Main Event, seventh grade going to Waterfront Park, eighth grade going to Kentucky Kingdom, and seniors going to Kings Island.

What are the plans for the next school year? Well, to say the least, they are very exciting. To start, there will be a revamp of furniture in the cafeteria, so students aren’t uncomfortable while eating, as Dr. Angela puts it “During the times I sat at the cafeteria, I felt very uncomfortable, so I can’t imagine what it would be like for the high school students”. There will also be a basketball hoop with a free throw line installed into Peace Park over summer break, there will also be some work done on the Atrium, the outside area parallel to the Welcome Center. Dr. Angela detailed it as “The mural painting class will be painting some nature scenery, then there will be some outdoor furniture installed out there, just in case teachers wanted to teach their class outside”. Last but certainly not least, it is planned that virtual reality will be implemented in some classrooms as a method to teach certain topics and even go on virtual field trips. 

The Brown High School bowling team is an uplifting environment filled with players of different skill levels who are looking for more players to join the team. Currently to join the team, prior bowling experience and/or knowledge is unnecessary because the coaches and captain are more than willing to help new bowlers build up their skills and find their natural bowling techniques. The girls in middle and high school are invited to come and join the team next year  and attempt to qualify at regionals to play at state. 

Bowling is considered a sport because of its competitiveness, physical exertion, skillfulness, and precision necessary to win; though the team encourages girls to join because it’s also an outlet of fun. Two year player and current eighth grader, Katelynn Keith says, “It's a very good environment, we're all really kind to each other. We have fun, and we keep each other fun.” She explained how bowling can get frustrating because you’re perfecting the same move over and over. However, with a team it keeps the morale positive. She also encourages younger middle school girls to join because it's a great opportunity to play on a varsity team as a middle schooler and it's stress free. “It’s not a huge time commitment, and it's great for college applications to be a part of something for many years. Plus it's a great way to make lasting friendships throughout school.”

The team in the past has been co-ed, which means boys and girls bowl together on one team and bowl against other co-ed and boys' teams. However, a new team will be emerging next year as the bowling team sets out to be an all-girls team. According to the players, competing as an all-girls team, they will have a better chance qualifying at regionals for state. Keith says, “ I’m excited [because] it gives us more opportunities to win[.] The guys we bowl against, bowl every single day at a higher level. But, the girls we bowl against, we have a better chance at beating them.” Upcoming senior/team captain, Gracie Rice, agrees with Keith and says, “We had two boys on our team last year and so we had to compete against boys teams which didn’t allow us to excel as much.”

Rice also encourages girls to join, and reassures, “Bowling is a great sport for having fun. It's a good sport to just join. You don’t have to get serious, [but] if it's your calling, you can get pretty competitive.” She explained her plans as captain next year are to keep up the team morale, and continue to have the team grow together to have a great season. She says, “I will support my team and take what I’ve learned over the years to help teach new and old bowlers.”

Every year, Kentucky celebrates the Derby where many people from all over the country go to Churchill Downs to watch horses run a 2.0km race. Though this event is only minutes long, this past race was the 149th renewal, and one of Louisville’s memorable events. Oaks is Derby for the Phillies, another competitive race that brings just over a thousand from in or out of town down to the track. 

A tradition to celebrate these two races is known as the Pegasus Parade which originated in 1956, and is one of the largest in the country. Brown School has kept up with these traditions, the many students from kindergarten to third grade every year decorate floats and walk the halls to showcase their designs. These floats are unique to the students, made from boxes, colored paper, stickers, paint, dolls, action figures, and each student can represent the Derby in their own way. 

Kindergartener, Zana Storts, said during her process of building her float she wanted to focus on a pony. “But I’m not done, I’m excited to show everyone our floats, but it's gonna take a long time [because] I gotta put on more things.” She was very enthusiastic about her float, she wasn’t nervous to walk and show the school at all, in fact, she was looking forward to it very much. She added, “I gotta add a white fence for my pony, but I’m not gonna glue my pony down, I don’t want to use glue.”

Kindergartener, Richlynn Debow, wanted her float to feature a rainbow, and only rainbows, though she was unsure of showing her creation off to the school. “I’m a little nervous, I don’t really want to do it.” Though, she loved her float, “I gotta decorate with rainbow stuff, with clouds at the end of the rainbow.” When asked if she would include anything else, she said, “No, just a rainbow with rainbow stuff.”

Kindergartener, Lucas Santiago, explained his dinosaur vision for the float, “I’m super proud of it, it's a dinosaur and I’m gonna show my class!” Though he was excited to share his float with his class, he said he was nervous to walk in front of the big kids and have everyone staring at him.

ChatGPT is a new AI chatbot that is taking colleges and schools by storm. Students from both high schools and colleges are using this AI chatbot to complete assignments. It is being received as both good and bad, as it is seen as a big advantage towards students but a struggle for educational instructors.

ChatGPT was launched on November 30, 2022 by OpenAi, an Artificial Intelligence Company. This company is known as the creators of DALL-E-2, a popular AI art generator, and Whisper, an automatic speech recognition system. 

The chatbot is described as an natural language device that is driven by AI technology that allows users to have human-like conversations that can help answer questions and assist with tasks like writing emails and essays. The program works by using advanced AI technology called a “GPT-3 model” that stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3. This technology is a learning algorithm that uses a sequence of neural networks, a method of AI that teaches computers to process data inspired by the human brain, to generate text. ChatGPT applies this AI technology to conversations, helping it understand natural language and be able to respond appropriately. 

ChatGPT was a hit and ended up garnering around 1 million users just 5 days after launching. The chatbot’s user growth continued to increase, as it just recently reached 1.16 billion users last month making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history, according to a recent UBS study. However, as this chatbot continues to grow, it is receiving a lot of mixed reviews from the education field. 

Thanks to ChatGPT’s fast ability to respond to questions and assist with tasks, many students have been using the chatbot to complete their assignments. A study conducted by the website BestColleges reported that 43% college students have had experience using AI tools, including ChatGPT, to complete assignments. College students aren’t the only users, as there has also been a rise of the use of ChatGPT in high schools. A study conducted by the Impact Research Institute found that 22% of high school students use the chatbot for schoolwork. 

Responses to ChatGPT have been both positive and negative, as colleges and school districts are still deciding on how to deal with students using the chatbot. Since the AI was recently created, both colleges and school districts have yet to implement policies regarding the use of ChatGPT. However, restrictions of the AI have already been reported from several school districts going as far as blocking access to ChatGPT on school devices and networks. Reasons behind this ban were because the AI could negatively affect a students' education by allowing them to  find the easy way out of learning. 

School districts aren’t the only ones responding negatively to ChatGPT, as college professors have taken the initiative to fail students who use the chatbot for assignments. A survey performed by the higher education search engine College Rover found that 36% of the participating students reported that their professors threatened to fail them if caught using ChatGPT. This instance was recently seen with Texas A&M University, when a professor failed their entire class for alleged use of ChatGPT on their final essays. This choice led to half of the class’s diplomas being withheld by the university. The professor, however, gave the students a chance to complete a new assignment to fix their grade. 

Some professors reacted harshly to ChatGPT, but others chose to both embrace and take advantage of the new technology. As a result of the rising popularity of ChatGPT, some professors are changing the way they assign coursework to both adapt to the new AI and challenge their students. At Harvard University, Jonathan Frankle, a professor of Computer Science, makes his assignments and exams more demanding by asking his students to make a more complex version of code. In his own words the students can “get more accomplished” and he can ask more from them. 

Another Harvard professor that teaches English had her students use ChatGPT in a three-part writing exercise. In the assignment, students were tasked with writing a short analytical essay, then using ChatGPT to produce a paper on the same topic and using it to compare responses. The professor hoped that the assignment would encourage students to “reflect on the seeming brilliance of the model” and question its flaws and importance.

Surprisingly, college professors aren’t the only ones using ChatGPT as an advantage as school teachers are also practicing this. In Illinois, an eighth grade math teacher reported that he uses ChatGPT to create multiple-choice questions, lesson planning, and generate answers for emails to students’ families . The teacher, Diego Marin, explains that he isn’t concerned about his students using the AI to cheat in his class because of the subject but he still expects them to use it ethically.

An eighth grade English teacher from Texas also uses ChatGPT for debate instead of writing. The teacher, Patrick Powers, allows his students to use the chatbot to generate  debate topics and mock business proposals. Powers stated that, “due to the pandemic, students are just behind, and they need fresh, innovative methods to be interactive.” He views ChatGPT as an opportunity for new sources students can learn from and that this AI tool should be adapted to the classroom instead of being feared.    

As of right now, ChatGPT continues to grow, and the impact of AI on curriculum continues to be reevaluated. ChatGPT may have a huge impact on the future of education and, if used correctly, can be very beneficial to both students and instructors.