The yearbook is one of the many signs of the end of the school year here at DHS. The day before the seniors leave their high school forever, everyone gets the opportunity to look at a book, write mementos, and reflect over all the good times and bad times throughout the year.
Getting the yearbook every spring is something that DHS students may take for granted, but not all schools hand out their book in the spring. Imagine, it’s the end of the school year, seniors are getting ready to go off to college and students want something to remember them by. The yearbook provides a means for this. The yearbook is all that is left to remember these four years, so isn’t it sensible that it is given while everyone is still here, rather than over the summer or the next school year?
“I think that it’s nicer for students to be able to get the yearbook in the spring because they are able to get all the signatures, and anything that they that they want in their book before the end of the year,” senior and editor in chief of Yearbook Paige Stemler said. “Versus getting in the middle if the summer, where they don’t really get to share it with their friends.”
It may seem like a no-brainer to get the yearbook at the end of that school year, but it’s not unheard of for the yearbook to be released in the fall of the next year. MHS finishes their book over the summer and hands them out at the start of the next school year. This allows them to issue a complete school year’s worth of coverage all in one book. Whereas DHS publishes a supplement after the May 26 release date, covering spring activities that were omitted in the main book.
“We try to get coverage in on as many activities, spring sports, things of that nature, that we can, then we provide that in your [supplement],” Yearbook advisor Cammie Hall said. “So when you get your book now, like last year, you have an entire school year in one book.”
Creating this supplement allows for students to get the experience of getting their books in the spring, and also still see a wide range of coverage from fall to spring. A fall release yearbook contains everything inside the hard cover, but also causes problems for graduated seniors.
“It’s a real shame that we don’t get out books in the spring,” MHS alumni Brendyn Bartos said. “Getting them in the fall is such a hassle, especially for graduates coming back just to get their yearbooks.”
Worse than the logistical problems is the fact that a fall release nullifies the objective of the yearbook as something to personalize and remember friends by.
By: Bo Brueck
