With the third month of the semester coming to a close, the production of this year’s yearbook has ended. The theme for this year is music, with an album of songs for each section and lyrics from the songs included on each page. The yearbook club started work in January and the book was sent to the company on Monday, March 17.
“We split up the sections of the yearbook into four sections, which [are] academics, clubs and organizations, sports and student life,” shared Editor in Chief Ady Ventura.
“For Student Life, it’s “Short n’ Sweet” by Sabrina Carpenter, because it’s one of the most popular pop albums of this year,” explained senior Mia Moussa, who helped with editing. “[The yearbook] is definitely gonna cover pop, country, alternative, rock and a lot of different genres. It’s more inclusive of different people [and their] music tastes.”
The yearbook team usually gets photos from Communications and Marketing Manager Cat Adamis and have also been coordinating with different photographers like Art, Photography and Graphic Design Teacher Mark Thiesen and student council members, who are commonly seen taking photographs around the school.
“I’m in charge of the photography here,” said Chief Editor Rebecca Welte. “I usually get in contact and communicate with everyone who’s taking photos, and sometimes, we have photos from each class historian.”
Senior superlatives can create conversations and interactions between peers and change the way that students react to their books. Last year’s yearbook did not feature this section, but this year, it is coming back. Students who have especially interesting superlatives took portraits holding props made by Yearbook Moderator Martha Anne Kuntz.
“For the person who was most likely to be elected president of the United States, I did the presidential seal. So, she’s holding that. For the person who is most likely to come back and teach at Notre Dame, I made a diploma that said, ‘Best teacher,’” stated Kuntz.
This was Kuntz’s first time working on the yearbook. With her graphic design background, she soon collaborated with the editors and added a lot of visuals that would show the personalities of NDB, keeping everything on track in the process.
“Each of the departments wrote what I call the ‘love letter,’ and we have that in their section. I also wanted to have a page that [Head of School] Mrs. [Meredith] Essalat was in — about her — … and the ‘Walking Trees’ [book] that she did. So, [the yearbook] becomes a more personal thing as opposed to just some quote that doesn’t really mean anything,” said Kuntz.
Kuntz emphasized that, in order to let more students learn about the production of the yearbook, there will be a section of the production process next year. She would also like to establish a yearbook class.
“It wasn’t just about the yearbook. It was publishing, journalism, photography and ultimately producing the yearbook,” added Kuntz.
