A yearbook is a cherished keepsake that lasts forever. It captures the milestones and moments shared amongst our classmates, administrators, and friends. Yearbooks allow us to look back and reflect on our experiences in highschool, and each page tells a story that may last a lifetime.
This year, the yearbook class consisted of 15 students that had no previous experience. Under the guidance of James Steeley, the journey of creating this year’s Spartonian was both challenging and rewarding. Although this was a new experience for everyone, they successfully completed it and they are proud of the final product.
Spartonian Co Editors in Chief Emily Spino, Abigail Ross, Riley Sullivan, and Glory Schmigel had a very important role when creating this year’s yearbook, by creating new ideas, meeting deadlines, and working together.
For Senior Emily Spino, joining the yearbook class came from her interest in looking back on old yearbooks. This reflection on the past fueled her decision to be involved in creating this year’s book. Having a smaller sized class with no experience lead to a heavier workload, with constant creating and editing spreads. Despite these challenges, Emily, along with others, was able to learn and adapt to the yearbook class. Emily’s pride comes from being able to “pull it off” and “create something beautiful”, which will soon be shared and held as a reminder of this year.
To Abigail Ross, joining yearbook was about “being able to be more involved in the school,” for her Senior year. She wanted to be able to help create something that showcased the fun side of our teachers and students. A struggle that she faced was “working on a project this large with so many creative minds.” Although meshing ideas with other students can sometimes be challenging, they were all able to work together and “succeeded in capturing little glimpses of daily life at Hempfield and all the important events.” Abigail is proud of the yearbook as a whole, but is mainly grateful for the experiences gained from being involved in this project. Being a part of yearbook gave her the opportunity to create spreads that reflected the true sides of our teachers and staff that aren’t revealed very often. She greatly valued the photography aspect of the class, and being able to talk to people that she wouldn’t have had the chance to talk to, otherwise.
Originally, Riley Sullivan’s aspiration for joining yearbook was because one of her friends suggested she join, since the class was so small. Riley soon faced many challenges when she became “super involved” with this project. Taking on a leadership role in something completely new wasn’t easy. The biggest obstacle was “trying to guide 15 students”, and making hard decisions on what to keep, and or get rid of. Riley was satisfied with completing the yearbook and is honored to be a part of something that “encourages people to come together to make a historical piece.”
Likewise, with Riley, Glory Schmigel also became a part of yearbook because of a friend. Since it is also Glory’s Senior year, her biggest struggle was “finding enough time to work on the yearbook.” Making sure everyone in the class was “getting involved equally” also became a struggle. All four editors worked together to try to meet deadlines, and create each spread the way they wanted this year to be seen and remembered. Glory is very pleased with the outcome of this year’s yearbook and “how many people got to be included in it.”
Memories are the building blocks that construct the foundation of our identity. By capturing moments of joy, sorrow, and everything in between our memories serve as a reminder of the people we’ve become. This year’s yearbook, titled “We Are” captured these memories and important moments that told the story of the 2024-2025 school year. It is an historic reminder of our shared experiences. Each page reflects our school community, our achievements, our friendships, and our challenges – it tells the story of who we were and who we are. This year’s staff have provided all of us with an opportunity to “flip through” the memories of our time here at Hempfield, and in the process, have created something that will always be a part of our history and part of the Spartan legacy for future generations to admire.
