Lining up in height order, students eagerly await their turn to be photographed. As they arrange themselves on the stands, they adjust their clothing and smooth out their hair, making sure they look their best.
Biggest and brightest smiles on the count of three!
One. Two. Three.
On Jan. 29, the Reflector staff hosted their annual Club Photo Day in the OH auditorium. Assigning a specific time slot to each club, the staff worked all day to organize, arrange, and photograph students from over sixty clubs at OH.
“We have so many students. We want to get every type of person inside the yearbook,” explained senior Riley Cherniwchan, Editor-in-Chief of the Reflector.
Newly awarded as the American Scholastic Press Association Second Place yearbook, the Reflector is produced by OH students taking the Yearbook Journalism class. Club Photo Day is one of the many tasks that they must complete in order to get the yearbook published and distributed before the end of the school year.
During the school year, the staff work together to photograph school events, interview students, and develop spreads, or pages, which are then placed in a chronological order.
“When outsiders are looking in, they think that yearbook is super strict,” said senior Kyle Allard, a design editor for the Reflector. “So many people don’t think about how we are all working together and it is such a good and healthy environment.”
The class follows a student-led structure, allowing the members of the staff to take charge by collaborating with one another to design, edit, and produce the 2023-24 yearbook.
They each hold their own role that comes with its own responsibilities and assignments. These roles include: copy editor, caption editor, reporter, photographer, photo editor, or design editor.
This year, senior Riley Cherniwchan serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Reflector with senior Shaelyn Benson as her Co-Editor-in-Chief. Senior Norely Ayala serves as the Design Editor-in-Chief.
“We are doing our own spreads, but we are also looking at other people’s spreads, editing them and giving them feedback,” said Benson.
As leaders of the staff, Cherniwchan and Benson take on additional responsibilities to ensure successful production, putting in extra hours to finalize and perfect spreads.
“The evolution of every spread is different from when it started to the final product,” said Cherniwchan. “When you have it in your hands physically it just feels so good.”
The process of designing and editing can be extremely time-consuming and tedious, however, it ultimately pays off once the yearbook is printed and distributed to the student body.
“Seeing their faces when they open up that yearbook is just priceless,” said Ewa Tulak, the adviser of the Reflector.
Tulak supports the students through lessons that teach them the necessary skills for producing a successful yearbook, however, she leaves much of the production process itself in the hands of her students.
“This is their yearbook, not mine,” Tulak explained. “I am here to help them and advise them, but in the end it is their work.”
In addition to teaching lessons, Tulak also contacts photographers, reviews spreads, and makes sure that students remain productive and on-task.
“Meeting the deadlines is definitely a huge part of the yearbook class, because if we don’t then we don’t get the yearbook out on time,” said junior Elayna Soyke, a copy editor for the Reflector.
Each year, the yearbook is distributed to the student body within the last few weeks of school, allowing students the chance to reflect on the memories of the past year, look for their classmates in each of the spreads, and write messages for their friends in the covers.
In recent years, the program has expanded greatly, but certain elements of the class have remained consistent.
“It doesn’t matter if there are eight or thirty of us. We really feel close and like a family,” said Cherniwchan.
The close-knit environment within the classroom not only allows the students to create memorable yearbooks, but also build strong relationships with their peers.
“Joining yearbook could be one of the best decisions you ever make,” said Benson.
My name is Natalie Raabe and I am a senior at Oswego High School. This is my second year as a member of the 42fifty team and I serve as a Managing Editor and the Features Section Leader. Additionally, I am a member of the BIONIC board, NHS, Best Buddies, SNHS, NEHS, Rho Kappa, and Mu Alpha Theta.
Awesome article! Such a prompt release with great, in-depth coverage of this event.
Natalie, what an amazing display of journalistic writing, Always a treat to read. Thank you to our hard working yearbook staff!
You wrote such a good article in such a timely fashion!! It covers the day greatly:)