The yearbook is more than pictures and names in a book; it is a book you look back on to see all the memories and moments that helped you remember your school year. The creation of the yearbook is not a one-person job, there is editing, photography, and teamwork that is put into the hard book. The people in Pubs, short for Publications, are the people who work very hard to bring joy to the community and themselves. In this class, we, as a team, work together on not just the yearbook but also biweekly articles for the newspaper, doing monthly photography assignments, and helping Mrs. Bookless with things she needs help with. Here is what the inside of a pubs class looks like and what it looks like and takes to make a yearbook.
Capturing the moment:
Photography is a huge thing in publications, not just because it is the first thing people will see but it is 80% of the yearbook. The pictures the publications class takes help show the “wow” moments or the shots of people accomplishing their goals. These pictures help represent how the person in the photo felt in the moment. Following the taken picture we go through many photos to get the right shots and sometimes edit the photo to look better, then send it to the pubs-server where the pubs class can put it in the lobby frame or on a yearbook page.
Cameron Einsweiler ‘26 said, “Taking pictures is the best thing in Pubs you get to see the people in a moment they can look back on and see the memories they made”.
Telling the Stories:
Yes, pictures are a main part of the class but in the class, we write articles to update the community on what’s going on. The pubs class writes articles about school, clubs, news, sports, or what they want to put into the community. These articles include good formatting, quotes, and a photo most of the time. These articles give the team something always to do and to keep them on their toes with their work. “Writing articles and telling the stories about someone helps show others what people accomplish” commented Mason Smith ‘26. “It can help people put information out there.”
Designing and Editing:
There is nothing harder than the yearbook in this class. The team of students and Mrs. Bookless, of course, spend hard days trying to put the yearbook together, making sure everything is spelled correctly, there are at least three photos of each student in the yearbook, and making sure there are quotes from people so the viewers understand the photos more. “My philosophy of yearbook is that we are making a history book of the school year and it’s important to me there are as many people in the yearbook as possible,” said Mrs. Bookless, “We really try to make sure that happens because we want to represent the whole school, not just the kids who are involved in a lot of things.”
Building a Family:
Despite the hard work and dedication in this class, we can’t do anything without knowing each other and having fun. The team takes breaks and has fun sometimes to help bond with everyone and relax. Playing games and sharing jokes helps the class become a somewhat family. “When we played spoons I think the bonding time was amazing for the group to have and get to know each other a bit more,” said McKaylah Sites ‘26.
Conclusion:
From photography and writing skills to being a team and having fun it takes hard work and dedication to build a yearbook. The experiences the people have to help their later selves with problem-solving and skills they will use in the future. At the end of the year, the hard work pays off as students hold a great reflection of their school year in the book they make that is filled with memories that will last a lifetime.
