Ask yourself, am I living in the moment? Are you paying attention to your present experiences? Well, this year’s yearbook is focusing on living in the moment and cherishing your experiences here at Lakeview High School.

When asked about this year’s theme, Senior Daylen Chapman said, “I really like the theme ‘living in the moment” because it’s going to capture our moments that we one day will look back on.”

Senior Ella Chadwick said of Living in the Moment, “I think it’s a neat theme that we will really be able to bring to life.”

Yearbook advisor Angela Sarko explained how the yearbook themes come to life. “Every year since I’ve been advising the yearbook, the staff has picked the perfect theme for their year. We approach the theme process by first taking nominations from publication staff of several possibilities. Then any staff member can comment on why certain themes would fit the year, what the theme actually means, and how the theme could be represented in the design of the book. We then have a vote where students pick their top 3 choices and then discuss again and vote again until we’re happy. Seniors’ happiness takes precedence. In some years, like last years 80’s themed/Stranger Things/Neverending Story, we actually are able to combine themes under one larger theme and that makes a larger section of the staff happy.”

This year students can use the new  Yearbook Plus app. The app will allow students to upload pictures straight from their phones that they would like to include in the yearbook. Students can feel like they are truly represented.

Even though the staff and students can use the new app to upload their photos, everyone is still encouraged to complete the yearbook questionnaires posted in Google Classroom. The questionnaires give students a place to put their voices onto the pages of the yearbook

Sarko commented on the importance of the questionnaires. “The surveys we post on the guidance google classroom or that are sent directly to individual students let us know how the students involved in an activity want that activity remembered in the yearbook. It is from those responses that we get the student quotes that you see throughout the book. Some groups are more cooperative than others and that shows. We can edit responses for grammar and mechanics, but we cannot attribute quotes that were not submitted. We do our best to get every response into the book.”

Chadwick said, “The students should want to reply because there are so many opportunities for every students’ thoughts to be added to the yearbook.”

Senior Daylen Chapman said, “They should be encouraged to fill out surveys because not only could they get their voice in an article but they also get to put their ideas out there. Also, it helps out the students in the yearbook to make the articles we write more efficient.”

Sarko also stated that “This feature provides a way for students themselves to make sure they are represented in the yearbook. We can only hope that students will use the yearbook+ program for submitting photos. Sometimes when procedures are new, adoption by the larger group can take some time. Once we get it up and operational, I hope that my staff will work to spread the word and show their peers how to use this feature. There will be some bugs that we’ll have to work through, but Jostens has had this program for 3 years so they should have it working optimally and now we just have to learn to use it. We do still have to view all the submitted images to approve the links, so that will take time, but I feel the benefit to students is worth the time. Another concern is that 10 years from now, that technology may not work, the links may not work, but the printed book will last indefinitely.”

Don’t miss out on your chance to upload your photos, answer the questions for the yearbook in Guidance Google Classroom, and order your yearbook so that you can look back at your time of living in the moment at Lakeview High School.