Is Yearbook a Class For You?

Journalism and Yearbook Electives

By: Makylah Gedlu

Here at Timber Creek High School, the yearbook class is run by Mrs. Bell and her group of wonderful editors who work hard to make the yearbook amazing. Timber Creek prides themselves on being very involved in the students and they do just that with the yearbook. But there is a class you must go through to get to the yearbook class. Journalism is step one. Taking journalism is the starting point to get you to the yearbook class. Journalism is a class where you test your ability to write, edit, and interview to create and publish worthy articles.

Senior and Co-Editor, Amore Lewis expresses how journalism and yearbooks have their differences and their similarities. “Journalism is practically the same thing and in yearbook we do interviews, articles, yearbook spreads, and many more things, applying what you’ve been learning in journalism.” Journalism is not for the lazy; you need to be attentive and very aware of your deadlines and due dates, making sure you’re turning in articles to the best of your ability. Being creative will follow you to yearbook from journalism. Yearbook gives you a type of “ freedom” with letting you take on spreads and interviews alone and making sure you get what you need with the assistance of Mrs. Bell and her editors. Learning the yearbook is different for most but to Lewis, she explained that it was easier for her to understand yearbook as it being a prerequisite to journalism. “I would recommend this class to anyone and everyone, because Mrs.Bell is an amazing teacher. The class is very fun, we have parties, it looks great on college applications, and it’s good to be a part of a group of people with like minds.” Lewis has expressed how the benefits of being in yearbook could potentially help you in the future.

For someone like Lexi Jones, who came from a different journalism class instead of Mrs.Bell’s journalism class, she expresses that there were things she found a little more tricky than someone coming straight from Mrs.Bell’s journalism class. “I feel like it was a little bit more tricky but once I did my first yearbook spread it began to get easier. I just had to learn the program with a little less experience than everyone else.” Jones did an online course for a journalism class instead of taking the class at school. Jones said that though the work could be hard, she enjoys what she’s doing so therefore it doesn’t make it seem hard. Even though she may have started with different knowledge or at a slower pace than everyone, else she still has fun and recommends this class to anyone thinking about joining yearbook.

Considering this, do you think yearbook is for you? Though you have to get through journalism first, it’s just the same in yearbook, applying what you know and learning new and fun things. All of the hard work pays off in the end when you and your classmates have created something wonderful. Hearing it from current yearbook students might really help you make your decision.