Before the Grand Release

Luis Irizarry-Ramirez, School News Writer

The yearbook is the backbone of compiling many memories into a single book. Student and staff members have been working year-round to complete more than 100 pages. The question now is, with only a few months until the yearbook’s release, what is the Glenbard South Yearbook Staff doing? 

 

Yearbook Theme

    According to an anonymous yearbook staff member, “The theme for the yearbook this year is all about coming into view.” The yearbook has been working towards bringing the inner self out of the light. The amount of work needed to complete the theme this year has varied throughout the journey. 

    Editor in Chief Meghan Miskovic, senior, told the Independent, “It is important for yearbook members to help each other out with their pages, especially if it is easy for you to do so, so I have collected lots of photos and potential interviewees.” Miskovic added sarcastically, “I have done a minimal amount of work for this year’s yearbook. The yearbook staff has had to work from school, home, and in different situations. 

 

Difficulties

    Yearbook Members has had difficulty receiving responses from faculty and students. While some respond enthusiastically, others ignore requests for interviews and information which makes it difficult for yearbook staff members to present an accurate and full picture of what is happening at South. “Do they not want to appear in the yearbook?.”stated Ms. Vickers. Not all Glenbard faculty are fond of having their club/activity interrupted also, staff has to deal with the constant shift in opinions from all levels of Glenbard South, including teachers. According to Ibrahim, ‘The feedback for the yearbook is mixed. Some are complements, some are constructive, and others are complaints.” In order to create a  yearbook, it’s staff must constantly change their strategies to facilitate the process. “It is hard, although many have been good with what we do. I have had an instance where I had to wait until the deadline to start with the page. I could not even take pictures myself…” stated an anonymous source.

    The yearbook committee faced several other issues as well. According to Ms. Vickers, “We need to get more people… Ms. Doyle, Megan, and I have to cover many deadlines apart from our normal responsibilities. We also have to go through each page, proof checking names and words….” Like many Glenbard South activities, there is a lack of participation from some students. According to Miskovic, however, the hardest part of creating the pages is not the communication nor the lack of staff, but”Making sure that everyone is represented. We do not want to short anyone out of their spotlight, but we only have so many pages.”

    Furthermore, an anonymous staff member explained, “Take the Marching Raiders/Pep Band, for instance, there’s just too many people to include. Too many names to write. All we can do is just tag their picture and hope for the best.”

 

New Times, New Schedule

    On top of creating the yearbook, staff members must also adjust to a new schedule-one that is different from a year in quarantine. Ibrahim states,”I would say it’s definitely different from last year. Our final deadline to cover everything last year was around mid-April. However this year, we needed to complete the yearbook by mid-March, so we had to work faster. This year though, it was easier getting pictures of the clubs, as that was difficult during e-learning.” Miskovic continued, “It’s very different from past years. Last year it was done almost entirely over zoom and it was a struggle to get enough pictures. This year, it’s a struggle to choose which pictures get a spot on the page.” Later an anonymous staff member said,”…But I guess this could be different since a 1-2 years ago I heard they had to make it completely out of scratch which sounds like a frustrating experience, compared to them having the computers.” According to another anonymous staff member,”it’s hard, we are taken for granted; We do hard work and don’t ask for anything in return. We just ask for some time… That’s all we need.” Our yearbook staff works hard year round working around different schedules and situations. They go over many theme ideas and input part of their artistic values into the very pages of the book, and yet they ask nothing but time. Time is very important, for completing pages, taking picture and in the end releasing the book.This years book is now completed, the student body is encouraged to be part of the yearbook’s journey. Contact the yearbooks advisor, Ms Vickers at [email protected], and fill out the form.