The San Dimas High School yearbook team is a dedicated group of students who work tirelessly to capture the essence of the school year. Behind the scenes, they juggle tight deadlines, brainstorm creative themes, and spend countless hours editing photos and refining layouts. From late-night editing sessions to last-minute event coverage, the process is as memorable as the moments they document. This reveals the hard work, creativity, and teamwork that goes into producing the final product. The Saint Scroll takes a closer look at the unseen efforts of these students, showcasing the challenges they face, the skills they hone, and the passion that drives them to create a yearbook that will be treasured for years to come.
At the heart of the operation is the yearbook room, where ideas flow and chaos often reigns. The team starts planning months in advance, brainstorming themes and discussing how to best represent the spirit of the school. “To ensure the yearbook tells a story and not just compiles photos, it’s important to have a strong and meaningful theme. Including interviews and a variety of students can make it feel more personal as well as showcasing the personalities of each spread,”said Kenzie Whiteleather, one of the yearbook editors. “Each page contributes to our theme, while also telling the stories of the 2024-2025 school year.”
Once the theme is set, the team gets to work dividing responsibilities. Photographers are tasked with capturing everything from football games to quiet study sessions, while writers interview students and staff to create compelling stories and captions. Meanwhile, designers work on layouts, ensuring each page is visually appealing and fits the overall theme.
For Skylar Fredieu, another editor, the collaboration is one of the most rewarding aspects of the job. “The editors are very vocal throughout the process of making the yearbook.” she said. “If someone does not like something or wants to change something then they usually will speak out to see how the rest of the editors feel.”
Of course, the process isn’t without its challenges. Technical glitches, missing content, and the looming pressure of deadlines can lead to long nights and stressful moments. “A challenge we face all the time is people losing their motivation to do a spread or even forgetting they have a spread,” says Fredieu. “We will talk to the person and remind them of their deadline and why they need to do their spread; we always offer help and even offer to push the deadline back.”
Through it all, the students learn valuable lessons about teamwork, leadership, and time management. “It feels very rewarding to view the final product of a spread because we spend hours working on each deadline and go beyond to ensure they are ready to print,” Whiteleather added. “After spending weeks of editing for each deadline, seeing each spread start with a blank white page and end with a fully detailed spread with so much life to it feels so rewarding and relieving after putting so much effort into it.”
As the pages come together, the yearbook becomes more than a collection of memories—it’s a testament to the dedication and passion of the students who created it. And while the final product may tell the story of the school year, the journey to create it is a story all its own.
