A round of applause to the yearbook staff here at Lake Ridge is in order. They completed our yearbook on April 20, 2017. The hard work that the staff put in all year was submitted to Walsworth publishing at 9:42 p.m.

Within the yearbook room, several different students come together to create the finished product that our student body recieves at the end of the year. There are a plethora of writers, editors, spread designers, and photographers that all work together to create a book filled with memories and events that capture the highlights of the 2016-2017 school year.

Being a part of the yearbook staff involves spending a lot of extra time inside the classroom during school hours and very often outside of school hours as well.

“On average, the small stuff the staff gets assigned per week usually takes up a whole class period of both A and B days. Personally, I’be spent almost whole days just working in the classroom and after school. I don’t really know how many hours exactly, but I know its been so much time. Some days I wouldn’t get home until around 9 p.m. on school nights,” admitted sophomore Aiyana Mackenzie.

“As an editor, I usually spend 2-3 hours in the yearbook room during the day and typically the same amount of time after school, sometimes longer,” said Yearbook Editor in Chief, senior Haleigh Thompson.

Making sure as many school related events and organizations are covered is a big responsibility and can sometimes be overwhelming, although the yearbook staff seems to have it completely covered this year.

“We use an app called Trello to assign events so that photo editors can usually get to where they need to be to cover events,” said Mackenzie.

“Another way we coordinate is through the staff. The staff is scattered in different organizations as well, so its easy for us to communicate and update information on events with one another,” explained Thompson.

But being on the yearbook staff also includes bonding and spending time with one another, making it easier to work with each other throughout the year.

“We have an annual kickball tournaments with other journalism departments in MISD. We also have ‘work nights’ where we spend a lot of hours together. Sometimes it will be from when school ends at 3 until midnight. We will bring in food and play music and it’s a lot of fun,” revealed senior Kyla Fergason.

Finally having the yearbook finished is a load off of everyone’s shoulders.

“Completing the yearbook is the best feeling ever. I spend so much time in that room and with the staff and I am honestly so proud of this book and I cannot wait to see how it turns out,” said Thompson.

“It is incredible to finally have the book finished. I feel like I have a lot more free time now that it’s submitted,” Fergason admitted.

“We literally made and are selling a product for so many people and that just now hit me. But it’s just such a great feeling,” said Mackenzie.

Now that this year’s yearbook is complete, the staff at Lake Ridge is looking to start planning next year’s book of memories.