By Ben Rodgers
Staff Writer
HOWARD – All yearbooks are something to remember the past by, but the 2017 Bay Port High School yearbook was truly one for the ages.
The yearbook was named in the 2017 Jostens’ National Yearbook Program of Excellence.
“They give it to well-designed yearbooks that reflect a broad representation of the student body, so we encompass that in our book because we have so many students,” said Greta Urban, a senior and Editor in Chief. “It’s also given to the books that use innovative technology and show excellence in journalism.”
The 2017 yearbook uses the Aurasma app so students can open the app and hold their smart phone over certain pictures to see a video.
“Instead of only taking pictures we would take videos of special moments and we thought maybe we would use them in the book sometime and we found the perfect way to do it through Aurasma so everyone can see them, not just us,” Urban said.
Aside from technology, the recognition focuses on skills in journalism, design, photography, writing, business and leadership.
“Last year we had quite a few different groups of people working together. Each group has to create a layout design and schedule photos and get quotations so all of that is going on at the same time, so sometimes it’s stressful,” said Savannah Huben, a senior and a Senior Editor this year. “Working as a class we all help each other out and just try to make sure we can cover everything going on in a week. Sometimes it gets really crazy, but a lot goes into just one week in the yearbook, the whole year is insane when you think about it all together in the book.”
Students who take yearbook as a class are generally divided up into areas that they will cover.
Those students then take pictures or videos, interview students, prepare some copy, design the pages and then it all gets put together.
“Last year I was the copy editor for yearbook and basically at the beginning of the year I created a Google form for our members to fill out and they would list the page number or the spread they were working on and theme and they were required to ask three questions minimum and then quotations,” said Ta’Leah Van Sistine, a senior and a Senior Editor this year. “Based off of those three quotations I would write a paragraph or a copy.”
Most of the copy last year was written by Van Sistine.
Every one of the 192 pages contains a photo by Meghan Bain, photography editor and a junior this year.
“It really teaches you how to collaborate with people more,” Bain said. “There’s so much teamwork involved. If you can’t collaborate with people, the groups won’t work well.”
Including the entire student body wasn’t difficult because the yearbook class is made up from a diverse group of students.
“Pretty much everyone in yearbook has different friends, different friend groups, and people they’re more comfortable taking pictures of,” said Katherine Howe, a junior and student life editor. “I feel a lot of the time we try to get as many people to go to these events as we can, because we know each person will take pictures of different people. But also we have to be really careful not to get the same people in the yearbook too many times, because a lot of people are super involved but you don’t want to flip through and see the same person every other page.”
The whole process helps the students involved grow as individuals inside and outside of the classroom.
“Last year being in yearbook opened me up a little bit. It allowed me to go out and meet new people and and learn a leadership role,” said Mia Flynn, a senior and Class Editor this year. “Being part of the staff it helped me gain confidence in what I was doing. At the end of the year it influenced me to go into other leadership roles at school, and go out for an editor position on the yearbook. As a whole you can see the transition from the beginning of the year. Some people are timid, they don’t want to share their ideas, then at the end people are blurting them out, saying their honest opinion.”
For Vicki Quinn, yearbook advisor and English teacher, it is rewarding to see her students recognized for their growth and contributions to a project many will hold on to for decades.
“I’m proud of our students for always being willing to work together, to problem solve, to communicate and that they have taken ownership in their efforts to do something for the rest of the students,” Quinn said.