In the abundance of classes at Silver Creek High School, the yearbook class stands alone. Not only does it disregard the normal format of a high school class, it also is more in the hands of the students rather than the teacher. Story ideas, well written captions, getting the perfect angle for a photo, all falls on the responsibility of the student.

The yearbook staff gets the opportunity to pick what they write about, who they work with, and who they choose to interview for their assigned pages. Students who do decide to take this class, typically love the independence of it all.

“You definitely have to manage your time wisely so you meet your deadlines, but I enjoy being able to create my own schedule,” says senior Andersyn Ibsen, “It’s more like a ‘real life’ experience because you have concrete deadlines, and your time is yours.”

Not only does the yearbook staff appreciate the freedom of the class, but so does the yearbook teacher here at SCHS. “I enjoy how students have to set their own goals and I’m not necessarily in charge of the curriculum,” says Joylynn Boardman, “You [the students] just have a deadline and you have to figure out how to meet it. It allows kids to be really independent.”

Along with the independence aspect of it, the story writing process is also something specific to yearbook and proves to attract students. Using the time to choose what to write about, leaving class to interview kids, taking the necessary pictures, getting interesting quotes, are all aspects that separate this class from all the others.

“I really enjoy being able to interview people and write stories because it gives me a chance to write about things that I think are important to the Creek community,” says junior Maddie Fullmer, “I also like putting the layouts together, because seeing a page in the yearbook come together with photos, stories, and captions is so satisfying.”

This type of writing process gives students the chance to explore their creativity through their work. They are able to dive deeper into how they’ll word their captions or how they’ll want to layout their pages. “I love being able to creatively combine design elements with fun captions-that’s my favorite part of being a yearbook staff member,” says senior Andersyn Ibsen, “For me, it is exciting to try and match the vibes of a picture with my word choice.”

Another perk of being involved in yearbook is that the class has many similarities to real life jobs. Not many high school classes provide students with a sneak peek of what may be required in the real world.

“I chose to take yearbook because I thought it would be a great opportunity to gain real world experience interacting with others in a somewhat professional environment,” says junior Maddie Fullmer.

Even Ms. Boardman has noted the benefits of the class and how it differs from the majority of classes offered at Silver Creek. “… It [yearbook] mimics the workforce so I think it’s a really good class to prep you [the students] for what will be expected one day,” says Ms. Boardman.

Also, the chance to be able to put a book together that most of the school will see or read comes with a lot of pressure and responsibility. But, it proves to be such a rewarding experience in the end. Working on something for an entire school year and then getting to see the final product can be very exciting. Which is something so different, comparatively to other classes.

“In most other classes, the work you do affects you and those in your class, but in yearbook, everyone sees everything that you worked on,” says Fullmer, “The final assessment in this class is a book that everyone will see, read, and hopefully remember years later.”

The independence of the class, the storytelling process, the creativity, the introduction of real world experience, and the end product, evidently sets yearbook apart from most high school classes at SCHS. It’s this type of uniqueness that continues to draw students into joining the yearbook staff year after year.