Education feature: Freshmen take on all yearbook duties
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CNJ staff photo: Liliana Castillo The Clovis High School Freshman Academy yearbook class took all of the photographs for this year's yearbook. The book will be distributed May 14.
The yearbook class at the Clovis High School Freshman Academy is anxiously awaiting the release of this year’s project — a yearbook entirely of their own making.
The class of 14 students not only designed, managed and edited the yearbook, they also took all of the photographs, including individual portraits.
Yearbook teacher Judy Williams said the class had difficulties finding a company that could provide portraits for the students to purchase at a reasonable price.
She said a professional portrait package could cost between $35 and $40 with an outside company. With her students taking the photos, students could buy packages between $13 and $15.
“It’s much more reasonable and it’s helped fund the yearbook,” Williams said.
Williams said students got an in-depth lesson about portrait photography including lighting, how to pose male and female subjects, using a digital single-lens reflex camera and digitally editing the photos.
Williams said she plans to have next year’s yearbook class take the photos and has ordered a professional lighting kit and a green screen so students can learn to add different backgrounds digitally. Williams said taking the photos for the book helped increase student skills in the yearbook class.
Lead photographers Jozlin Molette and Jasmine Diaz said it was difficult to organize photos for about 600 students.
“It was hard but we got to be more creative,” Molette said.
Diaz took group and individual photos of band and choir groups, which an outside company doesn’t usually do.
“We got to take funny face pictures and they could do their own pose,” Diaz said.
Editors Brooke Denton and Marissa Tijerina said they were able to design the yearbook in a way that was geared more toward the actual students.
“It’s more for us this way,” Tijerina said. “If we brought someone else in, they don’t know the kids like we do.”
The students said that even though the process was more difficult, it will be worth it.
“It came out good,” Denton said. “And we learned a lot.”
Tijerina said other students are asking questions about the yearbook.
“Some of the kids ask me ‘Am I in there?’” Tijerina said. “They know we’re making it for them.”
The yearbook will be distributed April 14.
Williams said there are 100, 80-color-page yearbooks still available for purchase.
Yearbooks are $45 each and students can purchase them in advance with a check, money order or cash.
