Designing the MICDS Phoenix yearbook, one of the few printed documents encapsulating the year is no small feat. All year, big moments, traditions, and special events unfold in the Upper School, and it’s up to a crew of student volunteers to sniff out the stories, capture the moments, and bring an eye for art and design to the table.
During Winter Term, Upper School Librarian and Yearbook Advisor Katie Voss hosted a class where students could learn the ropes of making a yearbook. They tried their hand at interviewing, writing stories, editing, design, and photography while working on pages for an engaging new yearbook that everyone will remember.
Voss said, „Even though we had limited time together due to the snow days, our students eagerly threw themselves into creating content for the yearbook. Their job was to document the work of other Winter Term classes, and their first task was to visit classes and simply observe to gather information and understand how they could best represent the classes in the yearbook. Then, they moved to interviewing, taking photos, and crafting copy and captions. Lastly, they used our [online] yearbook program to create layouts that showcased as many classes as possible. Along the way, we discussed how important it is to accurately represent as many of our students as possible to create an inclusive book.“
Voss gave us a sneak peek of a few yearbook spreads.
Aleena Ahmad ’28 thoroughly enjoyed the course. „My favorite part of the class was designing and creating the pages for different courses, which allowed me to be creative and do whatever I wanted the spread to look like come to life,“ she said. „I found working with a one-week deadline stressful and challenging because there are a lot of steps to do when it comes to creating a successful yearbook. I would recommend this class to those who are interested in photography and writing. In addition, this class helped me learn how to do effective interviews, which will be helpful later in life.“ Kennan Miller ’28 added, „It was really cool and interesting to learn about what goes into a single page of the yearbook and how much work it takes, including the design, interviews, and pictures.“
Voss said, „The yearbook usually has around 375 pages, and it takes hundreds of hours to create a quality publication. We need lots of staffers to make that happen! Hopefully, some of them will want to stick around and be part of the yearbook staff after Winter Term is over!“
We can’t wait to see what the yearbook students create this year!