At the start of every year in August, hundreds of students go home with a treasured keepsake that will last them a lifetime-a yearbook. Composed of vibrant pictures which span the pages, yearbooks are often a polished representation of the past school year, where students can reflect on previous events and memories. But they often forget the people who make this creation possible: the yearbook students, a dedicated group of peers who craft the book from August to May. With members who work hard to make it the best possible, Yearbook is not just a class-it’s also a community which serves the student body.
“Take it if you are willing to actually do the work. It isn’t the easiest but it’s so much fun and it actually helps you connect with the school a lot more,” senior co-editor Hayden Tibbals said.
The first order of business for the yearbook is to pick a theme. With every year in need of fresh ideas, it’s always fun for yearbook students to see what they can bring to the table-although they still reminisce on years past.
“The biggest thing we focus on in Yearbook is the theme, so when your story and design both match and incorporate the theme, that’s what makes it really strong,” yearbook teacher Jessica Roads said.
Next, it’s time to start page design. Every student in the yearbook is assigned a club and a class, and is expected to take pictures and report on each. Once these pages are designed and written, they go through final edits by the editors-in-chief, and are then ready for print.
“At the beginning of the year editors have a lot of work because we are getting a lot of spreads and pages assigned to different people, then we are also picking the theme of the yearbook and making final decisions,” yearbook editor Gayathri Ganduri, a junior at OHS said.
The yearbook’s not only about clubs and classes, though-it also spotlights events throughout the year, such as homecoming and prom. While some yearbook members take pictures at these events, students also have the opportunity to submit their own, so be on the lookout for yearbook picture requests.
“We are covering everything that happens throughout the school year so any academic sport, club, student life and we just cover it all,” Jessica Roads said.
One of the major events yearbook holds throughout the year in between designs is club and group picture day. With pictures every period and professional photographers available, the day gives Olentangy-affiliated clubs and groups a chance to get their photograph in the yearbook, and slots up fast. Although a fun day, it’s no small measure to set up. This year, over 75 clubs were photographed, with 5 minute increments for each. Students also have to document every student in each picture-this can be a difficult task, as some clubs have over 80 members.
As the end of the year nears, progress ramps up. By this time, almost all of the year’s pages are expected to be finished, and work will go into the summer for a select few, such as editors and those with spring sports. While responsibilities may be extensive and the process long, the final product is always worth it -it’s not often you can see your hard work in a tangible way.
“There are few of us who work through the summer, typically the goal is to finish the whole book by July but for example track states are in the summer so if we have students still running track we cover that. We also finish the graduation page and anything that wasn’t wrapped up during the year we finish it and send,” Jessica Roads said.
Be sure to be on the lookout for this year’s yearbook sale, photo opportunities, and more-and when you see the yearbook next year, don’t forget to thank the people who made it possible.
