We always see shiny and beautiful yearbooks sold at the end of each school year. They’re colorful, full of pictures including our best memories, and cover every topic that year, from Academics to Zachary’s. But we often don’t see all the work behind the scenes, all the follow-up emails sent to teachers for pictures, each vote for certain colors, and even debates on caption fonts. The wonderful Yearbook Committee of Lafayette does all this work to make your year the most memorable with nice, glossy pages.

Though the Lafayette yearbook’s first publication year is unknown, Lafayette library has books dating back to 1954 in its yearbook archive. Each yearbook is reminiscent of its era, with 80’s books having bunches of mullets and early 2000s with bright colors and Y2K styles. Although, something that never changes each year is that it is all thanks to the cumulative work of the Yearbook Committee that brought the book of memories together. This committee is in charge of everything, from organizing yearbook spreads, choosing color schemes, and taking pictures for each part of the book. They work tirelessly to ensure that the yearbook is complete, aesthetically pleasing, and something worth your money.

This year’s Yearbook Committee is made up of 15 students, ranging from sophomores to seniors. The committee includes new students along with veteran members from past years. So far, they have been working on designing page spreads for Academics, Clubs, Student Life, and Sports that have been going on during the first semester at school. They’ve been collaborating on what they want to see in the yearbook later. You might have even seen some committee members at football games, taking pictures of the enthusiastic Student Section and ensuring they get the perfect Friday Night Lights moment. Daily, they also communicate with teachers, club sponsors, sports coaches, etc., to make sure your activity has a place in our 2022-2023 yearbook. They rely heavily on the communication and effort of these people to have perfect photos for your pages.

I was pleased to sit with the Yearbook Committee on September 28th. On that day, the Yearbook Committee presented what they thought would make a good cover for this year’s yearbook. Each student could look for online covers they think would work, with adaptations to fit Lafayette. They could also create their cover from scratch with their unique ideas. They then presented their ideas to the class, discussing them in detail and why they thought their idea would be a good fit for the cover. They also engaged in conversation, talking about what they liked and disliked and supporting each other. They then proceeded to vote for their favorite idea, which students will get to see at the end of the school year.

I was also able to interview two crucial members of the Yearbook Committee team, Mrs. Calk and Nate Barker, a senior at Lafayette on the Committee. Mrs. Clark has been leading the Yearbook Committee since 2011, making this year her 11th year. She is in charge of everything- leading students in choices, aiding communication between teachers and students, and ensuring that everything is in a ship-shaped condition.

“I love the experience of working collaboratively with students and watching them grow into professional, creative, confident individuals,” Mrs. Calk said. “They are proud of the work they accomplish, and it is a joy to be a part of that experience. “

Nate has been on the Yearbook Committee since their sophomore year, working through the pandemic on the yearbook staff. They started working on the staff due to schedule changes and ended up loving the class, returning every year.

“I like the collaborative part of it. It’s cool to have a group of students from different backgrounds making one yearbook to represent everyone,” Nate said. “To have 15 people make a yearbook to represent everyone in this school is a pretty good task to work together on.”

While the yearbook is a lot of fun, it is also quite stressful due to the heavy workload yearbook students face. They often take time out of their schedule to go to sports activities, talk to teachers and sponsors, or take photos.

“The most stressful thing about Yearbook is meeting deadlines,” continued Nate. They also mentioned that it is incredibly overwhelming at times and leads to struggles as a collective.

Something that both Nate and Mrs. Calk agree on was the struggle during COVID times. While their yearbook staff continued to work, many yearbook committees across high schools had to shut their doors and could not get a yearbook out for that year.

“Finishing the 2019-2020 yearbook and making the 2020-2021 yearbook forced extra hours, adapting to cancellations, and teaching a disconnected staff via Zoom,” described Mrs. Calk. “Despite it all, we still produced two books that we are proud of, unlike other schools in the state that paused production, [or] published only online.”

Along with the struggle of all virtual work, the yearbook committee during Nate’s first year had only five students, which is a hard task all on its own. The Yearbook staff has worked tirelessly, through thick and thin, rain or shine, to ensure that a yearbook is there for you every year.

Yearbooks are a crucial part of our high school experience. They document our changes through the years and the fun times we might reminisce about in our old years. They are a nostalgic staple, making sure some of our high school memories are remembered fondly. Sure, they might bring embarrassment and comments of “Did I really think that outfit was a good idea?”, But even through that, yearbooks are there to show us the fun, the love, and the ridiculousness of our youth. The yearbook committee is there to ensure the yearbook does exactly that. So each time you flip through your 2022-2023 book, remember the Yearbook Committee is the reason for every cringe, every smile, and every tear.