With bond construction already creeping onto campus, it’s easy to tell that Creek is about to go through some momentous changes. Within the decade, students just like us will be attending school in brand new, fresh, unfamiliar buildings. The Class of 2026 is the last to graduate from the campus as we’ve come to know it. When Bruins return from summer, things won’t look the same.
Through this period of transition, there are some things about Creek we should never change. They are parts of our campus, our culture, and our purpose that make us, us.
It starts with the simple campus accents: trees. Trees are the unseen heroes that truly make our campus beautiful. When we see pictures of Creek in the 20th century, it looks strange and alien, almost like a campus in Kansas. But the blue spruces, the locusts, and the cherry plums add a whole new dimension and liveliness to our quads and our walkways. No matter how long it takes to grow them back, we need to keep Creek’s campus green.
Another beloved element of our campus is the abundance of meeting spots and social hubs like IC Cafe, the quad, the basketball courts, courtyards. We have places to get work done and make conversation during an off period, and we need to keep those to keep our campus feel.
Never change Stutler Bowl. Never change our beloved stadium that has been the place of memories, both treasured and triumphant. From football to soccer, to countless graduations, Stutler Bowl has held thousands of students, all forming new memories with one another. Even if the building goes down, we must keep the same love and energy within the concrete walls.
Always keep the legacy of students of the past. The senior gifts, the IC Cafe mural, the Union Street Gallery, these are handcrafted elements shaped by decades of excellence. Never change the marks of history painted on our walls and etched in our buildings.
It’s not just about the campus. It’s about what they represent. You can design blueprints all you want, but it requires special care to maintain the intangible, yet extraordinary, parts of Creek.
The trees provide shade and cover on hot days for us to gather beneath. The meeting spots build bonds and solidify our relationships. We make our closest friendships here, find our first sparks of young love, we find circles that last beyond graduation. That means something. You can plant trees and create benches all you want. Don’t just manufacture the environment but, help make those connections happen.
Stutler Bowl is home of Friday Night Lights. It’s the cool evening breeze. It’s first quarter energy. It’s our electric sports culture. More than half our students are athletes. Sports mean so much to this school. It’s easy to build athletics facilities, but it means more to keep our dedicated culture thriving.
Our senior gifts represent our history. Every student can make their own mark in our halls. Architects can plan for places for murals and monuments, but what’s really meaningful is accommodating the years of heritage that previous generations of students have already imprinted.
Creek students can make a wish list pages long, full of items they want in their perfect high school campus. Administrators can plan for natural lighting, sustainability, open spaces, and updated technology. But there are things about Creek that are already perfect, that should never change, even when the campus does.
