Creating a yearbook has never been easy. It is dependent on multiple people doing their part. The difficulty of managing people and making sure that the staff hits the publisher’s deadlines, and still create a good product, is difficult. The challenge of depending on other people to do what they are supposed to can be stressful. 

With the reputation that the program has developed, it increasingly makes it more and more difficult to create a good yearbook every year. Because of the program’s growing success over the past years, high expectations have put pressure on the yearbook staff.

Now, add the pandemic and putting out a yearbook is hard.

Yearbook editor senior Kristalyn Bermudez faces a very tough challenge in her first year as sole editor. With the vast majority of the staff at home and not face-to-face, it makes it difficult for everybody to get valuable content.

“It is very hard to communicate with each other,” junior Alyssa Strait said. “We don’t really know people that well this year because we have quite a few newbies, so we are having issues like communicating and figuring what to cover. It’s hard to get people to be able to go to an event because of [COVID-19] and not everybody wants their kid going out and being around a bunch of people.

A yearbook is dependent on events happening, and with a large number of cancellations, covering events will be limited. The only thing that is assured of happening is sports. Because of usual events that students do such as social gatherings, clubs, and organizations not happening, the yearbook staff has to get a lot more creative to make up for it.

“Students are not in the classrooms anymore,” Bermudez said. “It is basically all on the computer and on Zoom,” Bermudez said. “None of the kids really show their faces or even talk in the classes, so that is going to be a challenge.”

The book is designed by chronological events. The possible increases of COVID-19 cases make it difficult for the staff to plan ahead because of the uncertainty. 

“We go month-to-month,” publications adviser Mr. Pedro Cabrera said. “We have to know what’s going on a certain month and we then plan it out in the yearbook. But we don’t know what’s going to happen in December, or later in the school year.”

Luckily, the process of making a yearbook is all digitized. Therefore, if the pandemic does continue and people are forced to quarantine again, it will not stop the staff from doing their jobs.

“Yearbooks are really all on the computer. It wouldn’t be as bad,” Bermudez said. “It would just be hard to get everybody on the same page, as far as communication. But that is what we have our phones for.”

Not only does Bermudez have to face all those challenges, but the decision of some staff members graduating early adds another hurdle. Bermudez will be the only editor for creating the 2020-21 yearbook.

“They gave me words of encouragement and that motivated me,” Bermudez said.

Cabrera is adamant about getting a yearbook out during these tough times. 

“This will be one of the most important yearbooks to be produced in years because of the pandemic,” Cabrera said. “Yearbooks are historic markers and it’s the staff’s job to tell the student’s story.”

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