2027 Yearbook cover, designed by Lilian Fang.
Yearbooks are not an uncommon practice for high schools; however, Malden High does so in a unique fashion. What stands out is that the school offers the yearbook committee as an official course called “The Maldonian,” advised by media teacher James Valente, rather than just as a club.
However, this year, Valente added a twist to the yearbook. Typically, the class favors designing their book covers digitally, as Valente recalled that the last time they had a non-digital cover was “probably pre-80s.” To Valente’s knowledge, it hasn’t happened since he took over as advisor during the 2004-2005 school year.
Last year, in the 2025-2026 school year, they published their yearbook with graphics digitally rendered by Artificial Intelligence (A.I.).
Lately, A.I. has faced some pushback in society and can be described as “tacky,” stated senior Sofia Evoras.
Evoras further explained that there is a lack of soul to AI-generated art and how she “absolutely” hates it, describing that paying a costly price does not warrant using A.I., and the art in the yearbook should instead “be created entirely by the people who participate in the class.” She continued that “it promotes the lack of support for artists in modern times.”
Valente himself understood that the use of A.I. is controversial amongst Maldonians, and to honor that, he commissioned a student to create the artwork this year. This was a groundbreaking event for the school, as once again, we have not had original art made for the cover in roughly over 40 years.
Valente explained that it was senior Maldonian Committee staff member Weiqi Du’s idea to find student interest in designing the cover.
“I realized in the past yearbooks that they all follow a very similar pattern; for example, 2025’s, 2024’s, and 2023’s books all have a navy blue and gold-plated cover. So the question I had in my head was, ‘How can we make this year‘s yearbook more unique than previous ones?’” explained Du.
Valente claimed that it was also a push “against that A.I. idea,” and approved the suggestion.
Du emphasized, “With the rise of A.I. in art and media, a hand-painted cover further highlights not only the ability for humans to be creative, but also an important yet original piece of art etched into Malden history.” Although there was a wide pool of artists, it was ultimately senior Lilian Fang who was selected to create the cover.
Fang was described by Valente as “shy” and unwilling to “get herself out there,” so in choosing her, he wanted to highlight Fang’s skill in the arts.
“I’ve always enjoyed drawing ever since I was little, maybe four to five, and I would take drawing classes when I was younger,” reflected Fang, who continued sharing that it was a “full-circle moment” for her, as she also created the yearbook cover in her eighth grade at Ferryway Elementary and Middle School.
Fang was given the prompt to draw a car inspired by the Class of 2027’s motto: “Class of 2027, we stay driven,” that remained stationary in front of the main entrance, parallel to the Holden Street side building of the high school.
Instead, given that it held a stronger metaphorical worth, Fang decided to paint the car parallel to the front Boyle-side of the high school, as she was told to interpret the prompt creatively and put an interesting spin on the concept,
What started as poorly drawn sketches by Du became an A.I. prototype of what the yearbook was looking for. The prototype was described by Du as “bogus,” and they were looking for someone to take the idea and make it better.
Made with acrylic paint, Fang spent a total of seven hours painting the physical art. Fang mentioned how she initially wanted to create digital art rather than creating something physical, but settled on painting instead.
Fang turned in the piece of art to Valente and was met with applause upon viewing the artwork. “I’m pretty happy with it, although the proportions of the building were a bit off,” she expressed.
Valente remarked that it was a “one-of-a-kind piece of art.”
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