The yearbook allows students to look back and reflect on their high school years and relive the memories of their clubs, athletics, or favorite moments. With Echowan’s work culminating into one final product, yearbooks are finally being distributed and bought by more than 50% of the student body during lunch hours May 19-23.
Echowan adviser Kelsey Hanson said the work and planning that goes into producing begins before the school year even starts, and that the students in the Wan get no breaks during the year, as they have rigid deadlines to meet.
“The yearbook is truly a year-long process, and it starts in June. Jostens has a yearbook; Jostens is our vendor. So first we decide on our theme, our colors (and) our fonts. We put together what’s called the page ladder, which is a very in-depth table of contents. Our book is in chronological order, and so what happens is, Jostens sets a series of deadlines that we have to meet, and it’s about 40 pages per deadline,” Hanson said. “So we have to ideate, create, take photos, write, copy, design, and proof. We send our proofs to the administration for prior review, and we have to get that in before the deadline. So once something is sent to Jostens, you pretty much can’t get it back. So it’s got to be a final final draft. I think it’s about six different deadlines throughout the year.”
Junior copy editor and next year’s Echowan chief Ivy Hoeschen said that this year, the focus was on trying to include as much of the student body in the yearbook as possible and making sure all the smaller details are done correctly.
“We really want to focus on, the little details, like making sure every name is right, making sure that we try to get as many people featured somewhere in the book as possible, and making sure that once somebody’s in there a lot of times, we really want to focus on not having them in there anymore, and focus on getting a wide variety and diversifying,” Hoechen said.
Sophomore Finn Shepherd said he buys the yearbook every year because he uses it to reflect on how the year has gone, and what is going on with other students.
“They’re fun to look at and see everyone’s photos. And it’s fun to look back at them and remember all the memories that I’ve made during the year, and all the sports that I got to see, and overall, just continue to see all my other peers in the yearbook and see how we’re all represented,” Shepherd said.
Hanson said she believes the students work extremely hard on this year’s product, and that this year they included many more students in the yearbook than in previous years, a statistic that they take very seriously and she thinks should be a source of pride for the Wan.
“I feel really good about this year’s yearbook. I know the kids worked really hard. I saw them working super hard to get better quality photos, to write better copy, and to make sure that we have covered the students well. One metric that Jostens has called coverage, and so this year, we have 45% coverage, which means 45% of our student body has been covered in the yearbook three times or more, which is really great,” Hanson said. “Last year, it was only 28%, and the year before that, it was like three. We have been working hard to make sure that our yearbook is inclusive, and this one is the most inclusive that we’ve had in a number of years.”
Hoeschen said if kids see themselves more in the book, they are more inclined to purchase one in the future, and that they try to improve their inclusivity every year.
“We try to get more people in the yearbook and get our coverage up every year to try to make it so that every kid can see themselves in the book. If they see themselves in the book more often, they’ll be more likely to actually purchase the book,” Hoeschen said.
Shepherd said he’s willing to pay for the yearbook, and that making it free to all could potentially affect the quality and information that Echowan can include in it every year.
“It takes a lot of time to make, it’s very big, and it’s pretty nice quality. So, I think it should definitely cost money because I do like that quality that it comes with, I think the Echowan does a really good job with it every year, I just wish I were in it more,” Shepherd said.
Hoeschen said next year, when she is chief, she plans to continue to do her best to nurture incoming students new to Echowan so that they can keep doing their best work every year, and that she has some ideas on how to engage their members more and make it more fun as well.
“We try to create a positive environment, make it fun, and get everyone engaged in all aspects. Next year, we’re looking at maybe engaging kids in not just photo, but also allowing them to write or go on team assignments, where they can be engaged in multiple roles, Hoeschen said. “And also we’re just trying to make it more fun, and allowing them to be a bigger part of the process.”
Hanson said no yearbook can be error-free, but Echowan will continue to try its best to improve every year. Self-reflection will be the key to improving the yearbook for all to enjoy.
“I think that our book has had some hiccups in the past, and there’s never going to be a perfect yearbook, right? This is not a professionally made product, It is made by students. But I think when you’re going into a new year, you have to think about what didn’t go well last year,” Hanson said. “What problems did we have, and how can we proactively make sure they don’t happen again? And so I think it’s just a process of constant reflection and keeping our community at the forefront and asking ourselves, ‘What can we do to make the best product?’”
