High school authors and activists yearn to find ways to get their writing and other work published and seen.
A Hamilton High School junior recently had her work published in a unique and prominent place: the New York Times.
Katie Chan is one of seven winners in the Times’ third annual Student Open Letters Contest, in which teens were urged to write “public-facing letters about issues that matter to them,” according to a Times description.
Judges — which included Times journalists, as well as Learning Network staff members and educators from around the U.S. — read 11,185 submissions from teenagers around the world, selecting Chan’s letter and six others as the winners.
Chan’s was the only letter, among the winners, runners-up and honorable mentions, from an Arizona teen.
Chan told Independent Newsmedia that she typically writes for fun, but the contest seemed like a great way to express her opinions and ideas on a subject she cares deeply about.
“It gave me a lot to reflect on,” Chan said of the process of writing her letter.
Chan’s letter, titled “Error 404: Humanity Not Found,” calls on former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema to stop supporting the high-use types of A.I. data centers like the one Sinema came to Chandler to lobby for in 2025.
Sinema spoke at Chandler Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council meetings, mentioning eminent domain as how the federal government would likely proceed if a large south Chandler A.I. data center construction project was halted.
Lengthy, well-attended and emotional hearings led to Council voting, 7-0, in December to reject Active Infrastructure’s development agreement and rezoning application for the data center.
Chan said she learned about the damaging effects of data centers — especially the larger, more recently proposed and built types — while getting involved with heat-relief charity efforts around Chandler.
“In learning about heat awareness, I learned about the heat-island effect of data centers, which isn’t even one of the two most common reasons people oppose them,” Chan said.
Chan wrote to Sinema and encouraged her to stand up to companies that propose massive uses of electricity and water and to work toward more sustainable tech practices.
“We said no. Unanimously,” Chan wrote. “Because what does protecting America mean if you drain its water, overheat its cities, and silence its people? What does winning mean if you lose everything in the process?”
Chan said she’s given college and her career goals some thought, knowing she eventually wants to be involved with both public policy and abating and adapting to climate change.
For now, staying engaged by both expressing and refining her own views and hearing what her peers have to say are critical ongoing aims.
“I learned something from reading all of the other six winners’ letters,” Chan said. “It was great to read and understand what’s on the minds of teens around the country.”
Two of the other six winners are from Southern California. The others are from Northern California; Austin, Texas; suburban Washington, D.C. and New York City.
The Times praised the diversity of causes and complex subjects writers chose to focus on, ranging from the problems with restricting political discussions in the classroom to the dangers of social media for children.
Chan said she’s also going to stay involved with heat relief and helping mitigate global warming’s urban effects in Arizona.
“Last year, 430 people in Maricopa County died from extreme heat,” Chan wrote in her letter. “Many of them were older adults, people of color, and people experiencing homelessness.
Chan’s letter does not appear to be behind the New York Times’ paywall and can be found here.
Jason W. Brooks can be reached at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
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