Exciting events and many changes have been the main themes for this school year, which ultimately means more hard work for the yearbook staff here at Wakefield. You may have seen them on the sidelines of every sporting event with a camera in hand, desperately seeking that perfect shot. They’re also seen around the school conducting various interviews from a wide range of students. Not only has there been changes around the school, but changes within the yearbook staff. Long term yearbook teacher, Jason Johnson, stepped down last year and Rachel Bentley, an English teacher here at Wakefield, took over the position.

     “I was on the yearbook staff when I was in high school and I think I always had an interest in it,” Bentley said. “Yearbook falls in the English curriculum so when I found out there was going to be a vacant seat this year, I said I wanted to do it because I really enjoyed being apart of the yearbook in high school.”

     With brand new members, the yearbook staff had some adjusting to do in the beginning of the year.

    “Some of the obstacles we faced were that we were all learning it together,” Bentley said. “We were a brand new staff, and no one had done yearbook before.”

    However, the yearbook staff didn’t let that hold them back. They sat down with each other in the beginning of the year with high hopes, determined to make this yearbook like no other, and all shared this one common goal.

  “We wanted to get more coverage of students,” senior club and staff designer, Jermaine Valentino, said. “Last year’s yearbook wasn’t as diverse so we’re striving to make sure that it is diverse and we are hearing from a variety of students.”

   Similar to the newspaper staff, the yearbook staff were assigned roles when they first started.

  “At the beginning of the year, they applied for a section of the yearbook. They could be the student life section, sports, faculty and staff, and etc,” Bentley said. “They had to do a mock paper for me. They had to draw up a design spread and with that I chose based off of what they requested and I saw where their strengths were.”

  Being a part of newspaper gives you the opportunity to meet with different people and embrace your artistic side, there is a lot of hard work involved with the making of the yearbook. Daily activities consist of using laptops to work on yearbook pages, determining who has to go to games or other events, and making sure there are no mistakes and everything is in order.

 Junior design editor, Shayla Parker, discussed being a part of yearbook is not always easy.

“Student life is a very big outreach to students. Sometimes when you’re on a very strict deadline, I don’t think they realize you’re on a strict deadline,” Parker said. “That back and forth with students is very difficult because they want to do it on their schedule. You try to be as nice as possible because they’re still contributing to the yearbook.”

 Along with the hard work, being apart of yearbook is also stressful. The staff has four major deadlines throughout the year and the last one falls on March 20th, where all their material is submitted.

“Luckily the way they set up the deadlines, three-fourths of the yearbook is already done,” Bentley said. “At this point, it’s just getting through the last ad pages. It’s as stressful as it’s been each time with the deadlines, but it’s more of a relief knowing that in a couple of weeks we get to take a break.”

Whoever said ‘hard work pays off’ isn’t lying. Each member gets to take away something from this class.

“Being in yearbook, I learned that no matter who you are or where you come from, when you come together for a certain cause you become stronger yourself,” Valentino said.

Parker had a different perspective on what she learned during her time in yearbook.

“I learned that you have to be assertive with what you want,” Parker said. “While there are situations where you can politely ask somebody for something and they’ll happily give it to you, sometimes you have to put your foot down and say ‘hey this is what I need and if I can’t get it, then I will find somebody else who can provide that for me.’”

Many see yearbook as just a class, but if you ask the yearbook staff, they’ll say it’s a family. Bentley noticed that she was able to build deep, meaningful relationships with her students.

“I have really gotten to know them. I’ve gone out to events with them to take pictures and I continue to teach, such as telling them which is the better angle,” Bentley said. “Having a year long class and with only thirteen of us, we have the opportunity to get to know each other very well.”

Valentino also noticed that the relationships he has with fellow classmates has strengthened over time.

“I have gotten to connect with these people who I probably would have never hung out with,” Valentino said. “It’s like a family now, we’re pretty cool with each other.”

Many good times and laughs have been shared in this class and as this school year comes to a close it will be an end of another era for the yearbook staff.

“It’s been a fun process and I will be really sad at the end of the year because they’re all seniors, except for one, so they’ll be leaving me,” Bentley said.