Although it may be what many people think, Rocky Mountain High School’s yearbook doesn’t just appear out of nowhere at the end of the year. The yearbook is the result of hard work from Mrs. White and her students in room 224 in the Media Center. From gathering quotes, taking pictures, and designing/layout work, Mrs. White and her students produce the entire yearbook themselves.
Students can join the yearbook class whenever they want and Mrs. White is always looking for new recruits. If you have an interest in design or photography, this may be the class for you. It’s also a great opportunity to talk to other people as you interview classmates throughout the year.
“It’s not an easy A, but it’s super satisfying to see the things you worked on get printed,” Mrs. White said.
So, if you’re willing to put in some effort in trade for a great community and a rewarding project, you should talk to your counselor or sign up next year.
“Seeing it all come together is very satisfying. Seeing all the effort I put into it at the end of the year is pretty cool,” yearbook staffer Layne Mahaffey said.
What a lot of students and parents don’t know is how much work goes into the yearbook. Students choose what to cover on their pages and try to get as many of Rocky’s 2000 students in the book as possible.
All of these pages are due on specific deadlines, which they cannot miss! From sports to school events to random hallway interviews, students must gather pictures and quotes, which make up the yearbook and include the Rocky community.
Hard work isn’t just put in by the students, Mrs. White works the hardest, checking all the pages, helping with the cover, getting everything printed, etc, while teaching two other classes.
“Deadline times are super stressful and I am very preoccupied with yearbook, yearbook, yearbook! Getting kids to understand deadlines isn’t always easy,” Mrs. White shared. “If you miss deadlines, you miss the ship date, and overtime needs to be paid to get the books on time. We don’t want to do that.”
Although you may not think it, the yearbook class doesn’t really make much money, as it is not funded by the school, meaning Mrs. White is expected to use funds from this year’s yearbook for next year.
“We are totally self-sustaining. I like to say we’re running a small business from our classroom. The final bill for the yearbook is paid through book sales and can sometimes be over $150,000, depending on our number of pages and cover design,” Mrs. White said.
Although the class may come with some stress, there are also fun activities that Mrs. White plans–from having pizza parties to making keychains or little zen gardens, Mrs. White works hard to reward the students for their hard work.
For yearbook students like Brianna Trippel, the hard work pays off.
“We put a lot of work into making pictures look good. You have to take multiple pictures of one thing to make sure it’s just right on the page, but it is very rewarding to get your page turned in before your deadline!”
YEARBOOK DISTRIBUTION: Yearbooks will be distributed will be Thursday, May 15, after school in the Lobo Hallway. See Mrs. White for any questions.
