The Yearbook staff is tasked with preserving the memories we make in high school; every sporting event, spirit week, and smiling face captured and sealed into the history book of our lives. Each year they deliver a book that is uniquely filled with quirky senior quotes, dazzling in-the-moment photoshoots, and stunning spreads that cover everything from individual clubs to all the sports teams.

There are four different sections in the yearbook: academics, fine arts, sports, and student life. The staffers are assigned specific spreads from each section; they’ll write for a different section after every deadline date.

“You have to go to [the events], take pictures, write a story about it, write captions about it, just write everything about it. You basically have to fully immerse yourself into that sport or fine art or whatever else it is that you got assigned,” said Makayla O’Bannon, senior Yearbook staffer.

The Yearbook staff goes out of their way to make sure to include everyone into the yearbook. The people that they interview come from all sorts of groups of students and staff around campus to ensure that they get a diverse cross section of students.

“I really love [getting] to meet a lot of new people when you go out on interviews. You just have to be out constantly taking pictures with the teams and groups. You really get to know them well after all [that],” said Presley Simon, sophomore Yearbook staffer.

The yearbook is student led and run by senior editor-in-chief, Josephine Russell, and senior sports editor, Jolynn Oprea. Together they assign pages and run through edits. The staffers are able to take certain creative liberties when it comes to their spreads.

“I really love taking photos. I’m really into photography; that’s what drew me into the class in the first place. I just love the creative freedom that we get to have with taking pictures and along the way I found out that I actually really love writing about sports,” O’Bannon said.

This also means that Yearbook is student taught. Students are advised to take a year of journalism before joining the yearbook staff but given those that don’t the editors often serve to teach their staffers if they need any refreshers or pointers.

“My favorite part has definitely been meeting all the nice people on staff. They’re really supporting and if you need help you can ask somebody and there’s always someone there. It’s a really accepting [community],” said Alexis Gilreath, sophomore Yearbook staffer.

The yearbook serves as a window into the past and can be preserved for years to come. They hold in them an entire year’s worth of memories and experiences.

“When you look back ten years or however many years later you want to remember high school and you want to remember it in a good way. It’s just really nice to be able to look back and remember [everyone]; it’s a good time,” said Makayla O’Bannon, senior Yearbook staffer.

The Yearbook staff spends the entire year working on that year’s book. Each deadline they meticulously go through edits and changes in an effort to put out their best work. Every year the yearbook is special and different from those prior to it and that takes a lot of hard work and effort.

“I don’t think [the rest of the student body] know just how much work goes into the yearbook. They don’t understand our struggle and they focus [on the negatives]. We work really hard and try to make it as good as we can,” said O’Bannon.

If you are interested in purchasing a yearbook, see Mrs. Simon in room 505 to pre-order yours today. The price goes up every month and it caps off at $90 in May. The seniors will receive their copies first during the Senior Breakfast.