Young hereos celebrate achievements Page A5
Hartselle wins, advances in playoffs Page B1
Hometown newspaper of Bobby Fox- since 1933
Hartselle Enquirer WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023
VOLUME 90, NO. 46
By Staff Reports A procession of veterans representing various branches of the military made a solemn entrance into the gymnasium of Hartselle Junior High School Nov. 8. The school band played “ Battle Hymn of the Republic “ while hundreds of attendees stood in silence. This marked the commencement of the school’s annual Veterans Day program, which welcomes the public to partake in a day of celebration and honor. To initiate this poignant event, Braydn Whitlock led the audience in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and Kendra Gillott extended a heart-
School officials evaluate ChatGPT and its use among students
By Wes Tomlinson For the Enquirer
As artificial intelligencegenerated applications become increasingly accessible to students, some school districts have banned their use while other local districts are considering their potential. One of the more popular applications is ChatGPT, an AI-powered language model that allows individuals to ask a wide range of questions that the app answers based on automated research of information gathered from the internet. An incident involving students at Hartselle High School using ChatGPT to complete assignments prompted some teachers and administrators there to start a committee to evaluate the use of AI-generated apps. “We’ve had issues come up already with students who were using ChatGPT last spring and other AI text platforms,” said Josh Swindall, secondary curriculum coordinator for Hartselle City Schools. “We mainly wanted to get perspective on how AI is affecting the classroom, so that is why we formed the committee.” It’s not just a local issue. New York City Public Schools and the Los Angeles Unified School District are among school districts that had banned ChatGPT from their schools, but New York City recently reversed its ban and Los Angeles is working on a more permissive AI policy as the districts seek to balance the benefits and downsides of its use. Both Hartselle and Morgan County school districts have tolerated the use of text-based AI this year but have become more wary of the advantage it gives dishonest students. “From a document creation standpoint, we’ll have those students work on them in class rather than doing out-of-class assignments,” Swindall said. Morgan County Superintendent Tracie Turrentine said teachers and administrators in her district are using old-fashioned methods to detect AI-generated assignments.
Obituaries • Bernard Lee Hodgman • Nancy Delores West Kent • Charles Larry Wallace • Frances Louise McNutt • Betty Phillips Bass
“We see how a student writes on demand in front of us and then compare those over time,” Turrentine said. “The verbiage changes a lot if you look at what they write on demand versus what they go home and write (using an AI program). It’s a lot different.” However, when students use ChatGPT to solve difficult math equations, school districts are limited in their ability to detect work done by AI. “We’re able to monitor what websites students are visiting when they are at school on our servers,” Turrentine said. “But, when they go home or outside of school, we really can’t control it.” Turrentine said disciplinary actions will follow if students are improperly using AI in her schools, with the third infraction possibly resulting in a zero for the student’s grade. Morgan County schools currently allow unrestricted use of ChatGPT and other language models on their servers, but Hartselle has restricted use of some of these apps. “After that happened in the spring, ChatGPT was restricted earlier on,” Swindall said. “I don’t know about its use now. We do have some AI apps that are restricted.” Conversely, the school districts have seen the benefits of using AI from the standpoint of both teachers and students. “Right now, we’ve got teachers who have used ChatGPT for differentiation strategies and for writing samples,” Swindall said. “There are endless possibilities we haven’t discovered yet.” Morgan County teachers currently utilize ChatGPT to help explain difficult concepts to students. “It is widely used with coding during computer programming classes,” Turrentine said. Hartselle City school board member Randy Sparkman, who is also the branch manager of IT infrastructure and operations with the NASA’s Marshall Space Flight CenSee SCHOOL, page 3 For full obituaries, see page A-2
• Donnie E. Long • John Howard Willis • Bob Grammar • Neito Ray Garrison
felt welcome to the public and the students, faculty and staff in attendance. Under the direction of Col. Brian Williams, the Hartselle Civil Air Patrol proudly presented the service flags and the colors in precise formation. This year’s program was aptly titled “Honor the Courage,” with Col. Michael Synder being this year’s featured speaker. Men and women representing the Coast Guard, Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps—individuals who have served in nearly every conflict from the present day back to the Korean War—were duly acknowl-
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edged and honored during this significant event. HJHS students Doc Moore, Ellie Barrier, Anna Lamson, Jewell Jones and Elijah Gosnell took the stage to pay tribute to the veterans, followed by a performance of the official songs of each branch of the U.S. military. The veterans received a round of applause from the audience. Additionally, HJHS Faculty sang God Bless America and the HJHS Chorus performed The Star Spangled Banner. The event is held annually at Hartselle Junior High School and attended by hundreds.
In their honor
Annual Veterans Day parade draws crowd
PHOTOS BY JUSTIN POWELL
Hartselle’s 13th annual Veterans Day parade was held this past weekend, falling on Veterans Day this year, celebrating and honoring the nation’s military veterans. Hartselle High School’s Civil Air Patrol, marching band, dance teams and dozens of vehicles traveled the parade route as spectators watched. See more photos on page A8 and online at www.hartselleenquirer.com.