Ever wonder how the yearbook is even made or who writes it? How do they somehow get each school event and quotes? Well, wonder no more. It’s the Journalism class, and they work on both the Jefferson Declaration yearbook and the Jefferson Chronicle newspaper. This year, it is 3rd period, in J101. It is co-taught by Mrs. Gulck and Ms. Reagan, and they teach the basics of journalism, publication design, and photography required to create the yearbook using the web-based program Yearbook360 by Walsworth Publishing.
Using a web-based program allows students to have the entire layout of the Jefferson yearbook all in one place, where they can edit each page and create the digital book that gets submitted to Walsworth Publishing and printed. Students also get experience using Adobe Lightroom to edit photos, and Canva to create graphics and the spring supplement.
Each day is spent working on pages, gathering quotes, taking pictures, meeting deadlines, and writing newspaper stories. For some, this might sound boring, but students have a lot of choice in the stories they write, and the pages they work on. The group also works closely together as a team to make the whole process fun and unique to this school year.
Overall, the work could be considered minimal, with usually just one or two deadlines every month, giving students time to create high quality work. As a result, you feel like the part you did is truly yours, making this course a worthwhile experience.
Even with the stress of deadlines, most days you get to laugh with friends, work on fun subjects, go to school activities for free, and interact with new people and activities every day. Emery Stahlecker (12), says that “My favorite moment from Yearbook/Newspaper was going to take pictures at a golf meet with my friends in the class, and we got to use a golf cart and drive it around.”
While the yearbook and newspaper class’s final deadlines approach in early May, this years yearbook and the newspaper will go on to be judged at the SDHSAA State Journalism conference next fall. The 2025 book went on to place 2nd, and have several photos and designs featured in Walsworth publishings annual book showcasing great work.
