Seniors Marli Hanks, Maddie Smith and Gracie Tucker have been a part of yearbook staff since they were freshmen. It’s a huge achievement to be involved in something for your entire high school career and be able to see what you’ve accomplished.

The girls commented on their favorite part of being on staff.

“Yearbook day and distribution day, when everyone sees the yearbook, and the reactions,” Hanks said.

For Tucker, the interviewing was her favorite part.

“You get to really talk to people that you might just see in the hallway and haven’t spoken to,” she said. “I think it’s really cool to see when people realize they’re in the yearbook, and it’s just like ‘I matter.’”

No matter what grade you’re in, if you enjoy taking pictures, interviewing people and being a part of something bigger than yourself, you should consider joining the yearbook staff. The pre-requisite course is Introduction to Journalism, so make sure you speak to your guidance counselor about your options.

For prospective students who are thinking about taking yearbook, Hanks says it isn’t as relaxed as you might think.

“It’s not just everyone sitting around,” she said. “It’s a very laid back class, but if you’re gonna take it, expect to work. Expect to be held accountable for what you do. We’re on a deadline schedule.”

Smith agrees with Hanks.

“Yearbook can be so much fun, but it’s a lot of things that you don’t expect,” she said. “It ties into everything. You have to know about sports, and you have to know what’s going on with band, so you might know me from taking pictures, but it’s so much more than that.”

Working for the yearbook can also benefit you after school. Tucker connects her experience to her future plans of becoming a special education teacher.

“Just being in the school setting, having to interact with teachers, it’s taught me some of the skills I’ll need to be a teacher,” said Tucker. “It’s taught me a lot of marketing and photography skills.”

Smith wants to go into Graphic Design and Photography, so having been so involved with yearbook will help her tremendously in college.

The family-like atmosphere of the yearbook staff was what attracted the girls. “

These four years taking yearbook has given me somewhere to be. I feel like it’s a good place for me,” said Smith.

“Yearbook is a tight-knit group,” Tucker said. “We all come together and work on one publication, and we all want it to be perfect in the end.”