Aragon’s yearbook, El Tesoro, is a broad collection of quotes, photos and essays that are available for students to buy as a way of encapsulating memories from the school year. Filled to the brim with a wide assortment of achievements and experiences, it is a nostalgic staple for students to remember their high school years. The creation of the yearbook is an extensive process that takes almost the entire year to complete.
“At the beginning of the year, we choose a theme that the whole yearbook is going to be based off of,” said yearbook Editor-in-Chief Teagan Robertson. “It’s usually one word or a short phrase that we think represents what the year is going to look like.”
Editors meet during 4th period, which is taught and run by Vince Bravo, to compile materials to apply to the final copy. They collectively supervise the Yearbook staffers, who apply to join the yearbook as an asynchronous eighth period class. Staffers work as either copy staffers, who interview people or photo staffers, who take specific photos at their designated events.
“El Tesoro is a small-scale operation with big impact that demands time, dedication and passion”
“As editors, we manage about 20 staffers,” said photo editor Vivian Wang. “We assign staffers [work] and we make sure that we’re keeping track of sports or anything that’s happening on campus, and we also coordinate with other editors.”
The arrangement of yearbook editors is split into many different roles, each one entrusted with a distinct task. The editor-in-chief oversees the entire operation and stays consistent with deadlines, the layout editors create the overall format of the yearbook and the proof editors input the quotes and writings taken by the staffers. Additionally, the team also consists of a business editor who works on selling the yearbook and collecting the baby photos of seniors and photo editors who gather and organize the necessary photos.
The process of creating the layout of the yearbook requires a lot of collaboration and time as well. After the layout editors choose the theme for the year, they formulate the design and the overall structure of the pages. They do this through browsing on Pinterest and magazines, finding unique ideas they like and then deciding on their own layout. They share it with the rest of the editors and staff, who get to work on gathering the materials and writing the explanations.
“I do a bunch of research, [and] sometimes we’ll draw out the composition of a spread, [to] see if it looks balanced,” said layout editor Ava Yáñez. “I usually go through the process of making drafts for something, especially if it’s a more important spread of mine, to make sure I’m satisfied with it.”
The entirety of the process in total takes place from August to March, due to the fact that the yearbook covers a wide range of all activities that occur on campus throughout the year. This includes music performances, sports activities, theatre and drama showcases and school events and rallies during the first and second semesters. This means that reporting happens ceaselessly throughout the year, and staffers are constantly given new tasks to complete by a deadline.
El Tesoro is a small-scale operation with big impact that demands time, dedication and passion to supply the school with a book that will be a keepsake for many for years to come. Consisting of various groups, roles and responsibilities, the making of the yearbook is largely a cooperative effort to cohesively produce the outcome of the yearbook that is distributed to students at the end of the year.
Are the activities carried out related to technological developments?