High school is an incredible journey where everlasting friendships and memories are formed. It represents a time when sports teams won victories, friends chatted over the lunch tables, and students learned to pick themselves up after a tumultuous semester. The yearbook serves to capture these special moments, so students can always flip through the pages to remind them of the happy years.

For seniors, the yearbook holds a particularly dear place in their hearts. As ISB traditions go, each senior is given half a page to write, or create a photo collage to dedicate to their high school years. These pages are filled with heartfelt goodbyes, sincere thanks, and final recollections of the past four years. Even when friendships have faded, and years have long gone by, the yearbook will always treasured, as it is how we will remember our youth.

Each year, the students in the yearbook class are responsible for putting together this keepsake. Sadly, this course will no longer be offered next year, and instead, will carry on as a club. This poses a concerning question for the future of yearbook.

HS Principal Mr. Philip Bradley agrees that the yearbook “is a great product that our community enjoys and treasures.” However, a new idea has been implemented in which the responsibilities of the Yearbook course are now integrated into the Media Studies course offered. He adds that the high school administration “think[s] that [they] can offer students interested in publication a more authentic, diverse and up to date learning experience if they take media studies.”

Current yearbook advisor, Mr. Conor Duffy agrees although he can also see some concerns with the Yearbook being a club, “most of the teaching in the yearbook class was done by September 5th.” He adds that “since then, class time has been used to compile the yearbook with few new skills developed, aside from collaboration, responsibility and pride.” Mr. Duffy mentions that he is not sure “if Yearbook merits the academic standing of a class for graduation credit; however, the club will have to be very organized and the club members equally dedicated, to maintain the standard that the class produces.”

So where does the quality of  future yearbooks lie now that the course has been eliminated? The work that the Yearbook class does is remembered by all of the ISB alumni, and treasured for years after they graduate. If the course becomes a club, will people still be as dedicated to create such a high quality book?

Rebecca Cano (12) speaks her concerns as a member of the Yearbook course. She worries that “there would be no motivation for people to get their work done.” While the students in course now have grades to push them to meet deadlines and work hard on their assignments, she believes that with a club, “it is going to be hard to instill that mindset into the students to make them want to work.” The administration has recognized this concern, and discussed a generous amount of CAS hours as reward to those who commit quality and time to the club.

She raises another concern that “it requires a very motivated group of people to produce a yearbook,” and the system of a club where “people can come and go as they please”, will not allow for “commitment and dedication.” There are a lot of technical skills that plays a role in putting together this book, and Rebecca worries that a club would be a difficult setting to provide the members will the necessary training.

The yearbook is a source of pride for the producers, and cherished by the students. While it is inarguable that Media Studies would offer students a more realistic publication experience, by removing the yearbook course, the school is jeopardizing the high quality of our yearbook. This course is not just about the specialized skills that can be learned through Media Studies; it provides students with the much needed 85 minute time period to collaborate and communicate with one another.

Yearbooks have been a crucial aspect of the ISB experience for many decades. Although the future of the quality of the yearbook is uncertain as the course changes into an after-school club, it is important for the school to try to uphold the quality and dedication demonstrated by the past years. In any instance, a great “thank you” goes out to the previous Yearbook class for always commemorating the memorable year for each graduating class.

Sammi Thomas and Sarah Lim