A yearbook might seem like just something you get at the end of the year to reflect on all the good and bad memories that have taken place during the school year. While that might be so, most people don’t think about the hard work and dedication that goes into creating this piece of memorabilia.
This year the AGHS Yearbook was trying to accomplish a goal of a sleek and simplistic book.
“Simplicity and getting the point across as well as giving a cleaner look and cleaner cover,” Yearbook Teacher Jefferson Clarke said.
At the beginning of the year, classes prepare to work hand and hand with one another. With anything new, it takes time to adapt and fit the standard to then go above and beyond and even exceed them. Student of the yearbook class Tru Holmes knows this struggle well.
“When we’re up against a time limit things can get stressful and overwhelming. You have to do lots of catching up along with new deadlines and it causes some students to produce less valuable work,” Holmes said.
The stress of deadlines and completing work on time also correlates with the events that need to be featured in the yearbook. These events and spirit days are a lot to manage and hard to cover if the student is not being diligent. These events are required to be highlighted in the yearbook so it’s crucial that the class covers them.
“I’ll lean on my colleagues, and club advisors as well as admin and ask them what they want to represent in certain pages and for special spirit days,” Clarke said.
Clarke and his class are dedicated to contributing to the yearbook and making it better every year.
Many students viewing the yearbook might wonder why certain pictures were put in and why others weren’t. It’s super important to include pictures that are a good representation of our school dynamic and embody our standards as AGHS Eagles.
“Trying to have an electric mix across the board [with] photos that exemplify our eagle core values [and] students that stand out [is the priority],” Clarke said.
Tough decisions have to be made in order to create a cohesive and visually appealing book. Many things are edited and altered many times. Students are responsible for checking pages over and over again to make sure there are no errors.
Although students are required to complete whole pages normally they work with one another which is a controversial topic. Many hard working students choose to complete whole pages and sometimes more while other students will do the bare minimum.
“Students that Clarke trusts will complete more and have more of a say as well as have more responsibilities in the class. I find creating pages as a way to express myself and it’s kind of fun to come up with themes and ideas,” Holmes said.
Overall, when it’s the end of the year and you are viewing your yearbook, looking at all the cool designs and pictures that you might be included in, don’t forget to consider the time and effort that went into it.
