Yearbooks change, stay the same

Central Valley High School seniors Jordan Igo and Stephanie Johnson have been friends since middle school. On Friday afternoon they sat cross-legged on the gym floor and wrote messages in each other’s yearbook. “Yearbooks are my favorite part of the year. You can look back and see all the things that have happened,” said Igo.

High school students are picking up their yearbooks this time of year. They eagerly flip through the pages looking for photos of themselves and their friends.

Igo and Johnson will be heading in different directions next year, so this year’s messages have special meaning for them. Igo reminisced about how Johnson used to get gum stuck in her braces, and Johnson wrote about their obsession with the Spice Girls.

It’s not only seniors who appreciate yearbooks. On Friday a group of Central Valley ninth- and 10th-graders took turns passing their books around for autographs.

“Yearbooks will always be around. They’re awesome,” said Riley Garrett, 16.

Megan Shane will be CV’s editor-in-chief for next year’s “Voyager.”

“It takes a lot of blood and sweat and hard work to produce a yearbook. You learn about teamwork and deadlines,” said Shane.

Students also learn about photography, graphic design, page layout, writing and marketing.

Digital photography and professional design software have changed the way yearbooks are created.

Mead High School’s first yearbook, the “Pantera,” dates to 1921. Carol Tadlock has been yearbook adviser for 10 years.

“We’re no longer using Scotch tape, Exacto knives and light tables. We have a totally digital, color pdf book. The actual design of the book has changed over the years. It’s moving away from the cookie cutter template size to more of a magazine format, said Tadlock.

This is the fourth year that the Mead yearbook staff has created a DVD which includes almost two hours of interviews, sports highlights, classroom activities, performances and activities with video and sound.

“It’s not prevailing yet in the schools, but there are other schools across the country doing this. This also gives my kids a chance to expand their knowledge in the videography area,” said Tadlock.

About 85 percent of Mead students buy the 340-page yearbook that sells for $55. The DVD is $10. Most of the yearbooks in the area sell for about $40.

Yearbooks are also produced with income from selling business advertising and “baby ads.” Parents of the seniors pay $25 and up to put in a baby picture of their son or daughter along with a message.

At Coeur d’Alene High School, 90 percent of the students purchase a yearbook. This is the ninth year Eric Louis has been the school’s yearbook adviser. When he started, his class had one computer and three point-and-shoot cameras. The class now uses 14 computers with professional design software and 11 cameras.

“In terms of technology that’s significant. It’s a great learning experience,” said Louis.

Because of her graphic design experience, one former student was hired by a real estate company at $15 an hour to make fliers.

“Students have a real project and focus. It’s a class with creativity that allows them to put something out that the whole school is going to witness, so there’s high stakes involved,” said Louis.

There have been other changes to yearbooks over the decades. Gone are the days of almost identical head-shots of the seniors. Today’s pictures reflect the personalities and interests of individual students. They may be dressed in a choir robe or sitting on a motorcycle.

“I came from the East Coast where everyone sat in a tuxedo or drape and I thought that looked great, but now that I understand the character of our school and our community, the way they do it here makes a lot of sense to me. I tell them to do something classy that they’ll be proud of and that won’t embarrass them 20 years down the road,” said Louis.

Shadle Park yearbook adviser Stacie Wachholz is seeing more and more students taking their own senior pictures.

“Senior pictures can be real expensive. Some kids don’t have $600 or more to pay for photos. I think it’s going to be a serious trend as demographics of different schools change,” said Wachholz.

But in the end it’s not the technology that makes a yearbook great.

The messages have remained much the same over the years, “Have a great summer.” “Keep in touch.” “Here’s my e-mail address. See you on MySpace.” Well, maybe they have changed a little.

“The yearbook tells athletic stories. It tells academic stories. It reflects what goes on inside and outside the school building. The personality of the school and the tone of that school are going to come through in their yearbook,” said Louis.