At PCM, the Yearbook calendar has always been the same. Students take pictures and gather quotes throughout the school year, meet deadlines, then the yearbook is ready for distribution around Homecoming of the next school year. However, this year will be the start of a new way. The yearbook will be done and distributed on the last day of school so everyone can take it home for the summer rather than wait until the next school year. 

Yearbook advisor Brooke Grett explained why the change was necessary. 

“The main reason why it changed was because then the seniors can get it before they leave for college or elsewhere,” Grett explained. “It makes it really inconvenient for us because we have to call the senior parents and let them know they have a yearbook they bought from last year.”

The change was welcomed by everyone involved, and the entire Yearbook staff joined in the effort to make the book by the end of the year. Editor Kaitlynn Smith is part of that, as it has been a stress reliever for her. 

“This change has been good stress-wise because before, there were still editors working on the book over the summer along with Mrs. Grett,” Smith said. “It just allows more time over the summer for everyone. I enjoy Yearbook, but I wouldn’t want to work on it over the summer.”

Because of the change, the Yearbook will look different on the inside. It used to always start with fall coverage all the way through summer coverage. This time, it will start with last year’s summer and go through the end of the school year.

“Because of the new layout, baseball and softball coverage will be at the beginning rather than the end,” Smith explained. “And because of our new deadlines, we have had to be really creative with coverage. For example, with track, we can’t cover state competition because our book is due April 19. Because of this, we have been taking pictures at practices and early season meets. It is the same way with golf and soccer.”

The weekend after April 19 is prom, so the hard deadline to submit the book to Jostens is April 24. After that, the Yearbook staff will continue covering events, which they will then submit as an extended edition. 

“The extended edition will look the same as the actual book to the average person,” Grett said. “The book ends on page 112 and the extended version picks up on page 113.”

After the April 19 deadline, the Yearbook staff will submit an extended edition, which will be added into the book. This extended edition will cover everything from spring break to prom. So the final book will have everything a yearbook needs except for graduation pictures. In the meantime, the yearbook staff is working on the book for next year, deciding the theme among other things. It is all to get ahead for next year and leave behind the first year stress. 

“This new way is just really great because now the students who worked on the yearbook get to pass it out personally,” Grett said. “Whereas before, after seniors in the class graduated, they never got to see the looks on everyone’s faces when they passed it out.”