There is always a sort of excitement when it comes time to get your yearbook. Seeing what is inside, the excitement of finding your friends, and the smile you get when looking back on all those school year memories creates a feeling of anticipation among students.

Seeing all that the clubs and teams have accomplished that year gives you a sense of school pride. In addition, seeing what fellow students have succeeded in plus saying goodbye to seniors makes you feel closer to the Wayzata community.

When it is time to purchase your yearbook, it is time to look back on all the activities the school has held plus all the smiles that came with it. These memories are forever captured and stored in a single book.

But have you ever wondered how much work it takes to capture these memories and encase these emotions? The answer: It takes an entire team.

Team Work Makes The Dream Work

The yearbook team is composed of many different groups that work together to make sure everything that goes into the yearbook counts.

The first group is staffers. Staffers are students that have signed up for the class. Staffers are mainly in charge of interviewing students, obtaining photos, and building pages they are assigned. These students work together as partners (usually one partner has more experience/knowledge in the yearbook or their assignment; the other partner is good yet has less experience and learns as they work.) with creative freedom on the composition of their page as long as it is on theme.

Next are our editors. In order to be an editor you must submit an application and go through an interview process. Although old editors get to interview new editor candidates, the final decision is up to their teacher, Michelle Jacklitch. Editors are split into different topics/departments in order to cover everything that goes on in the school year. For example, the Sports and Activities Editor (Emma Buck), Design Editor (Sydney Lasser), and more. The different editors are assigned staffers to manage plus choose themes staffers must stick to.

Another major position is Chief Editor. This year’s Chief Editor is Angel Kim, who has been pursuing her interest in the yearbook since middle school. As Chief Editor, Angel’s role is to assign groups and projects while also managing a group of her own.

All these groups are monitored by Michelle Jacklitch, the teacher who runs the yearbook. By allowing students in the yearbook to lead the class, Jacklitch introduces a more creative and independent thinking. With her counseling and guidance, students are able to create a yearbook with a positive outlook on the school year.

With careful planning and communication throughout the school year, creating a yearbook is much like working around the clock. So how do they do it?

Setting The Page

There are many elements when it comes to page setup in the yearbook. Each page must draw in the audience with its artistic aesthetics and memories that are sure to leave a smile on readers’ faces.

The most important element of setting up a page is the Dom photo. The Dom photo is the biggest picture on the page. This photo acts as a hook to draw readers into the main subject. The Dom is always connected to the headline.

There are also Dom quotes, which are the main quotes of each page that give readers more insight into the moment. They’re usually not connected to the headline.

Another piece are the Mods. Mods are caption lead-ins that explain a photo, making it easy to identify the photo.

Some smaller, yet powerful elements are the Copy, which gives quotes and details about what is on the page. Subheads are similar in the sense that they also give details, however these are less important.

Now anyone can point out that these things are used to create every yearbook around the world. So what makes Wayzata High School’s yearbook so unique?

The Importance of Everybody

It goes without saying that Wayzata High School strives to build a strong community where all students feel accepted in addition to being recognized for their contribution. That is what the yearbook aims to showcase every year with fresh ideas and hopes of a deeper dive into the lives of students.

In its attempt to dig deeper into the student life category, Sydney Lasser, the design editor, shares that the yearbook tries to feature every student in Wayzata High School at least a few times throughout the book. Yes, every student.

On this topic, one of the staffers Kim Kamara adds, “It’s important because some people are considered popular and get a lot of attention for sports and clubs. But it’s important to the yearbook that people who don’t get much attention or are considered shy to also be recognized.”

It’s understood that the yearbook staff is meant for the many memories every student creates at Wayzata, and to put it in the yearbook so that they are recognized. Yet who recognizes them for all their hard work?

To Be Recognized

Every year students come in and out of the yearbook having created something that will last forever. Towards the end of the year, the students’ hard work and dedication creates a sense of joy in the atmosphere that only comes from looking back on all the memories and accomplishments of Wayzata.

However, the yearbook itself is Wayzata’s biggest accomplishment because it is evidence of how students can come together to create a legacy. The yearbook community is tight knit because it takes an open, accepting, and kind community in order to work as a team. Angel Kim states, “The yearbook needs a lot of communication or things and ideas won’t match up.”

Kim Kamara further comments, “I feel like the people I work with in the yearbook are very creative and kind, which just makes coming up with ideas easier.”

With their meticulous planning plus relentless work, the yearbook shares their excitement for what is to come as they work hard to shine light on the Wayzata community. If you’re interested in seeing all that goes down this school year, the yearbook advises, “Go buy your yearbook.”