Buy Your Yearbooks!

By: Kyndhal Limbrick

Like many schools in America, the yearbook is a common and expectant part of school life. We look to them for distant memories and forgotten anecdotes; the adventurous findings of an old friendship and the reminder of the year’s events. As platitude as this may sound, the comedy, the recorded achievements, and the exhilaration is what makes us so eager to purchase them. But According to Sue Blackmon, yearbook sponsor, there aren’t enough students buying their yearbooks.

“It’s really sad to me that they can’t even see down the road that they’re going to want this book,” Blackmon said. “They have their phones. But their pictures, their iPhones, their AirPods – they aren’t going to be around forever. But a book is a book. It’s there forever.”

And with this book comes a lengthy process. Beginning in the early months of April, the team begins to plan out next years yearbook. By July, they’re in a workshop working through the beginning stages.

“We do have a lot going on and it does get stressful but in the end it’s worth it,” Alyzea Castillo, senior, yearbook staff member said.

Castillo has been a part of the yearbook staff since her junior year of high school. She started in Journalism 1 her freshmen year, and with the help of her teacher, enlisted in Yearbook.

“I was a really quiet kid, but my teacher made me come out of that,” she said. “When junior year came, she told me that I should join yearbook and she said that she’d talk to my counselor about joining. She said if I didn’t like it, I could get out anytime but when I came in here, I really did like it. It was like a safe-zone for me here.”

The Yearbook isn’t all about serious deadlines and punctuated sentences.

“It’s a great opportunity to get out of your comfort zone. You can learn new things about it, and it can help you grow as a person. From staying to yourself to going on interviews and actually meeting different kinds of people and understanding their stories,” Castillo said.

One of her favorite parts about yearbook is being able to interview; learning the different perspectives around the school and hearing stories from different people. With those stories come different standpoints in our yearbook. The diversity brings out distinctive characters thus making each and every yearbook a unique copy coming from a variety of personalities. Fitting everyone’s disposition into one book can be a challenge. But with the weight of the school on their shoulders, they succeed in finishing every individual proof until the very last page.

“My favorite part is when the books are all delivered. We wait in the room until the staff is together and the look on their faces is like ‘I made this!’,” Blackmon said. “When they see that book for the first time, it’s a big accomplishment. Sure, they see the proofs and separate sheets but it’s different seeing them in the complete book.”

Castillo also shares this moment of accomplished diligence and agrees that it is her best yearbook experience.

“My best memory was probably the party when we were giving out the books,” she said. “You get to see everyone’s faces who bought the book. They always look surprised. I liked it because in my head I think ‘We’ve been working so hard on this. And they’re finally enjoying and seeing what we’ve been working on all year.’ That’s probably the best part about yearbook – feeling accomplished.”

In the end, Blackmon wishes to convince students to buy their yearbooks. They don’t understand the value in having a book, she says, and she hopes more will purchase as the years elapse.

“Encourage your friends to buy their book.” she said.