Towards the end of each school year, students are eager to receive their yearbooks, culminating all of the events at our school throughout the year.

The yearbook is a fun way for students to reflect on their time at Hawthorne High in June and for the rest of their lives. However, as students scan the pages and reminisce on the good times that they had, they often tend to ignore all of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make the yearbook possible. 

Hawthorne High School’s yearbook for the 2022-2023 school year is currently being put together by the yearbook class, which has been a part of the elective selections for a few years. Mr. Schell previously ran the class, but things have changed this year.

For the first time, the class is run by Mrs. Redmerski, who doubles as an English teacher and class advisor to the seniors. Mrs. Redmerski and the students in this class took on a crucial role here at the high school, as each grade counts on them to produce a unique piece they can look back on and enjoy. 

While sitting in on a portion of a class period, I witnessed the students’ hard work. Using Jostens Yearbook Avenue, I watched as two students chose from various background templates for each page. They were also able to select unique fonts and designs to fit the needs of each section of the book.

Right next to them, another student in the class was putting in pictures of one of our most popular events this year, the fall block party. Throughout the year, the students in the yearbook class also get to photograph events such as spirit week or homecoming with professional cameras to produce the best quality photos for the yearbook. 

When pages are complete, they are reviewed and sent to the company to be finalized. Throughout the year, there are deadlines that the class must meet for the book to be completed by the end of the year. Mrs. Redmerski and the rest of the class do a great job of dividing up the pages so they can meet each deadline quickly.

Although this job may seem simple, much more work goes into it than you think. 

So at the end of the year as you flip through your yearbook, thank the yearbook class for putting in a fantastic amount of work to produce an excellent yearbook for each student at HHS.

If you are going to be a rising senior next year and desire to be a part of this crew, talk to your guidance counselor about being a part of the yearbook class next year. You won’t regret it!