As the school year nears its end, the yearbook members and advisers who are leaving the staff after this year are putting their final touches on the 2023 yearbook.

Adviser Jen Stevenson wants her last book to be as perfect as it can be with all school events and operations back to normal after the pandemic. She said, “We thought that this year with things being back to normal… that we could make a really strong book and have everything a little bit more what we were used to pre the pandemic.”

Assistant adviser Nick Somich, who primarily focuses on student writing in the yearbook, also hopes the last book he does is done right for its readers. He said, “It is impossible to create a perfect yearbook, but we can do our best to make it as perfect as we possibly can. We do shoot for perfection, but we understand that perfection is not possible, but it is our goal.”

Stevenson and Somich are working together to advise their sixth yearbook together, and they took the first quarter of the school year to set expectations and teach all the lessons that are needed to begin making the yearbook pages. Somich said, “We didn’t tell the kids at the beginning of the year that this was our last book, and we really don’t want to make this about us. I think that Ms. Stevenson and I have our own personal goals that we do want this book to be a special book for ourselves and for our seniors – I mean, every senior this is their last book, you know? So we want it be special for them every year for that reason.”

Senior editor Megan Kless, a three-year staff member, is sad that Stevenson and Somich are leaving but happy they’re leaving together. She said, “It’s like the end of a chapter we all keep saying. It’s like the end of an era because I’ve been with them for three years.”

Kless also wants her last book to be done well because it is the seniors’ last book they will be featured in with the most memories. She said, “I think your senior book is probably your most memorable yearbook you’ll ever have, and it’s one you’ll hold onto, and it’s probably the one you’ll be featured in the most.”

The yearbook staff this year has eight students, whom Kless called “very focused” and determined” to make this year’s book. She said, “I think it’s not in the numbers, it’s more dependent on the people. You could have a big group but few people who are less hardworking about it.”

This final quarter is bittersweet for Stevenson because of what she’s leaving behind as the yearbook adviser. She said, “I will miss working with the students and learning so much about the school and seeing the product of the book come together. But at the same time, I definitely feel like I need a little bit of a break from it.”

Stevenson and Somich’s decision to step down as advisers was actually decided two years ago, so principal Jeff Legan could have enough time to find a new adviser. Somich said about their decision to resign, “Resigning is such a harsh word. I rather not say that in that way – I would rather say that we are ‘retiring’ as advisers, we’re putting our yearbooks to bed if you will.”

Next year, English teacher Lauren Irwin will be the new leader adviser of the yearbook staff. The new assistant adviser hasn’t been announced.