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- Seniors Calvin Zhao and Bonnie Chen sign yearbooks after school in the cafeteria. Yearbooks were distributed today.
by David Kwartler
Almost everyone can find his high school yearbook tucked in a closet next to old keepsakes. The Newtonian is this school’s student-created yearbook, which helps students remember their time at this school.
Although the yearbook is traditionally handed out at the Senior Breakfast, this year, the yearbooks were distributed today after school in the cafeteria.
“It’s a book in which we are able to look back and remember our days at this school,” said senior Kellynette Gomez, an editor who received the Newtonian Award for excellence on the production team.
According to television production aide Amanda Mazzola, who advises The Newtonian, the creation of the yearbook is a yearlong process. The staff starts the year by brainstorming what will be covered in each section. Then, each editor creates the layouts for the pages and figures out what pictures, quotes and secondary elements are needed.
Senior Kristina Zagame, an editor, said “In the beginning, a lot of the meetings consist of learning the software and brainstorming creative ideas for themes and spreads. From then on, we split up and tackle our own spreads.”
According to Mazzola, “The yearbook is created online using a program called Yearbook Avenue. As each spread comes together, I proof the pages and offer suggestions. When a spread is finished, it is submitted electronically to be published.”
Every year, the students involved in the creation of the yearbook chose a theme that represents the current seniors’ time at this school. “The goal is to not create the same yearbook as the year before. The 2012 theme is ‘Leave your paw print behind,'” Mazzola said.
According to Zagame, a challenging part of the yearbook was trying to include everyone in such a large grade with such diverse people. Another challenging part was communicating with the rest of the yearbook team.
“The main goal of the yearbook staff is to make the yearbook a good keepsake by trying to represent all the seniors equally. It’s really hard, but we try our best to incorporate everyone,” said Zagame. “While making a spread, I was able to create a visual memory for my peers through the way I saw it, and that was a pretty cool experience.”
The yearbook is a little different every year because of new trends that come into play, according to Zagame. This year, the yearbook includes a Twitter feed spread in the yearbook because of the growing popularity of Twitter at this school. There is also a bucket list of tasks students should complete before graduation.
Gomez said, “This yearbook made some changes in what we cover. In last year’s yearbook, we covered academics thoroughly. However, this year we have more focus on Exchange trips, the Library Commons and the Senior Year Projects. We also made an effort to include a wide variety of diverse students at North, such as the EDCO program.”
According to Zagame, “The yearbook is a collection of photos from the past year, and it’s full of memories that we’ll look back on and reminisce about forever. This yearbook is a good representation of this year’s seniors. It’s sentimental, and it’s a way to look back and relive all the great memories we experienced at this school.”
For those who want to find a copy of previous editions of The Newtonian, the special collections section at the Newton Public Free Library is the only place with the entire 102 volume collection.
Today, when students receive their yearbooks,“I’ll get to see them smiling and laughing as they find themselves in the yearbook as well as running around getting friends to sign them. It will be a beautiful chaos,” said Gomez.
