Love Your Yearbook Staff

Tomorrow, I will submit the final pages of our school's yearbook for publication.  This is the fourteenth time I have done this since becoming a yearbook teacher.  Because Jostens understands the power of simple gestures, a fun thing will happen when I hit the last submit button.  Little fireworks will appear on the screen. 

It's unreasonable how happy those little dots of light on the screen make me.  They are just little digital dots of light, after all.  Except, they aren't.  They are a representation of the time, energy, heart, and work that my staff puts into making this book.  In case you don't know what a yearbook staff does, let me give you a quick run-down.  The GRACE Christian School yearbook consists of:

176 pages
Covering almost 800 students and around 100 staff members
14 grades on two campuses
60 seniors
Every student pictured a minimum of 3 times
26 athletic teams across 3 seasons
Homecoming Dance
Spirit Week
6 types of fine arts on two different campuses
2 school plays

30 clubs on two different campuses
Multiple events like Grandparents Day, Hoops for Hope, etc.

I think I just realized why I overslept this morning.  When we began work back in August, every one of those 176 pages were blank, white sheets of paper.  Now, they represent memories, victories and losses, rehearsals and curtain calls, learning experiences, time spent with friends, senior fun, community service, and a hundred other things. 

Keep in mind that this is accomplished by high school students who have all of their other classes to attend and work on.  This week, take a moment to recognize that accomplishment, and give some love to your yearbook staff.