After the school closure announcement on March 12, yearbook editors had to question whether or not the yearbook would be done by March 20, the print deadline. With campus closed, the yearbook editors would not have contact with any faculty or students or access to the office and their files.
On the last day of in person instruction, March 13, the editors agreed to stay after school to try to finish the remainder of the yearbook. The editors worked diligently to gather the remaining spring sport photos, finish completing the index, finalize student life layouts and name students on pages.
Editor Abby Chang recalls the stress from the time crunch to gather spring sport photos, as they were going to be cancelled.
“Since the spring season had just started, we hadn’t taken most team photos, and our staffers hadn’t been able to get to their games or meets yet. We had to scramble and arrange for all the sports teams to come to a practice that week in their uniforms, and then everyone who could get their hands on a camera came out to get enough photos,” Chang said. “It was very stressful, but ultimately we did the best we could given the circumstances and short notice.”
Unfortunately, the editors had to leave campus at 4:30p.m., with many tasks left unfinished. In the following week, the yearbook had to be completed through yearbook advisor Vincent Bravo’s computer, who was the only one who had access to the yearbook files.
“The yearbook is built with an internal network which allows the editors to use multiple computers to access the files at once, but with no longer having access to the yearbook room with those computers, we could no longer do that,” Bravo said. “[T]he computer that we used to build the remainder of the yearbook was with me, not the other nine editors.”
The team agreed to contact each other frequently through text messaging and video calls to ensure the yearbook was completed on time.
“It was definitely a challenge for the editors to stay in touch since we weren’t able to see and communicate with each other in person,” said yearbook editor-in-chief Ariela Leventhal. “For many spreads we had to track down names and quotes for every individual on the page which is difficult because of school closure, so we reach[ed] out to many students via social media.”
This process was difficult, especially keeping in contact to make sure all of the editors were keeping up with what was being completed. The editors agreed to bring light to the situation that every student, family and faculty member was going through, and created another student life spread centered around COVID-19 and the effect it had on the community. The spread features screenshots of online classes in Zoom calls and quotes illustrate how this has impacted students and staffulty, both socially and academically.
“Our job as yearbook editors is to best represent the 2019-2020 school year in its entirety, and we felt it was only right to address everything that’s going on so we can look back on this crazy time,” said editor Kerri Chow.
Through frequent communication and video calls, the editors were able to complete the final edition of the yearbook by its due date. However, many students are uncertain as to how they can purchase and receive a yearbook. Business editor Cindy Chao has some concerns about how school closures might impact yearbook sales.
“I am happy to have been a part of this team that worked so hard to create a yearbook that looks very similar to any other yearbook of the past if not better”
“It might be more difficult to get news to the Aragon student population because they are no longer at school. There is definitely less communication on how to buy a yearbook and the process of distribution,” Chao said. “Since there are no longer live or video announcements to spread the word, students are most likely confused on how to purchase a yearbook or if they still even can.”
Despite the complications presented, students can still preorder a yearbook through an online order form until May 8. For the senior class, pre-ordered yearbooks will be distributed during appointments to collect locker items and return borrowed materials. As usual, yearbooks will be available for purchase until they are all sold, and seniors will likely be able to buy a yearbook if they hadn’t pre-ordered when they pick up or return their materials. As for other students, there are no official plans, but discussion is in conjunction with administration planning for students returning borrowed materials.
“It goes without saying that this year’s editor staff met the challenge of school closure and have given extreme amounts of dedication and professionalism,” Bravo said. “I am happy to have been a part of this team that worked so hard to create a yearbook that looks very similar to any other yearbook of the past if not better.”
Ultimately, yearbook is yet another extracurricular that adjusts to the challenges of the coronavirus. While deadlines help encourage motivation, the work and efforts of both staffers and editors proves valuable in creating the 2019-2020 yearbook.
