By Lorin Enns
With the school year quickly coming to a bittersweet end, “The Prowl” staff held their annual yearbook signing and distribution party on Tuesday, May 8 in the cafeteria. The yearly event celebrates the completion of the book and gives friends and classmates an opportunity to reminisce and hang out together before the school year ends. As graduation grows closer, seniors receiving their last high school yearbook are inspired to take advantage of the time they have left.
“Having a signing party kind of makes it a bigger deal than just handing books out,” senior Brandon Garcia, yearbook co-editor-in-chief, said.” It gives students a chance to hang out with all their friends in one place, listen to good music, eat food, and look through a book containing all this year’s memories. Looking at it by yourself is awesome, but having others around to enjoy it with you makes it a definitely different experience.”
The yearbook parties were separated by upperclassmen and lowerclassmen, juniors and seniors taking up the first 50-minute session while sophomores and freshmen came afterward from 9:00-9:50. Students who ordered their books early lined up to receive their books while everyone else got into a separate line to purchase one. After picking up their books, students headed to the food tables to get breakfast.
While breakfast is certainly a perk, the yearbook party is more than just bagels and pancakes. Yearbook staffers hosting the event held raffles for prizes, giving participants the chance to win a variety of gift cards, coupons, and packages for restaurants and local businesses. This year’s prizes included a Starbucks gift basket, a Lululemon yoga mat, Cowabunga Bay passes, a perfume package, and a variety of other items.
“The raffle is a really fun part of the party,” junior Anne Burton, yearbook staffer, said. “My favorite items to raffle off were probably the Cowabunga Bay passes or the eyelash extensions.”
Each year, The Prowl begins work on the yearbook months in advance, even going as far as to develop a theme and graphic element for next year’s book as soon as the latest edition is completed. The staff, a 40-strong team of editors, photographers, and writers work throughout the entire year, attending yearbook camp in the summer, to ensure that each book is the best that it can be. The party symbolizes the end of a chapter for everyone, giving staffers and other students alike a chance to look back on the year and see just how far they’ve come.
“In general, no matter what grade you are in, it’s important to have a yearbook because it allows you to look back in 10 years and remember the events, trends and friends present at that time,” senior Kristina Metzner, yearbook co-editor-in-chief, said. “It’s especially important for a senior to buy one because seniors encounter ‘senior events’ that no one else in the school gets to experience, and we as a staff document those memories.”
Editor’s note: Yearbooks should be picked up in room 215 before school, during lunches, and after school until 3:00. Books can still be purchased for $100, but a limited amount has been ordered and they WILL sell out. No checks can be taken from seniors.
