As the school year draws to a close and students make their final memories for the 2017-2018 school year, the editors of the Allen High School yearbook conclude a long project of their own. The AHS yearbook, nearly four hundred pages long and growing every year, will soon be available for students. In its painstakingly crafted pages, students can relive their year, from Homecoming to a couple of the state games.

“I didn’t know I would go into yearbook, but once I got into it, I realized I enjoyed designing and writing, and sometimes taking pictures,” yearbook editor-in-chief Aezra Jadormeo said. “It wasn’t something I thought I would one day lead in.”

Jadormeo now oversees a staff of 25 students who all are encouraged to write stories on the happenings at AHS, design a variety of spreads and take photos of school events

“While I was in the [introductory] class, I really loved designing so I decided to join yearbook,” Junior managing editor Sanjana Reddy said. “Then, while I was in yearbook, I discovered I also had strengths in writing, so I’m glad that yearbook helped me discover new things about myself.”

Creating a 300-plus-page yearbook takes nearly the entire year. Editors begin planning themes and layouts before school even starts, and they spend the entire school year, up until around mid-April, to creating the book.

“I really do have a passion for creating things and then showing it off to people,” Jadormeo said. “Being the editor-in chief –– it’s not only helped me in designing and writing, but also being a leader in the school and for my peers.”

The editors in particular dedicate time to the yearbook, typically having the class every day in order to maximize working hours.

“[The staff and editors] not only share the memories of the school year, but we have our own memories that we make in the classroom,” Jadormeo said. “One of my favorite parts of yearbook is just the relationships I’ve made with the old editors and the new editors.”

As graduation grows near, Jadormeo says she hopes she will remain close with next year’s editors, just as she remained close with the editors of the 2016-2017 school year.

“I still talk to the old editors, and I hope to continue my relationship with the editors now ” Jadormeo said.

Photography editor Sarah Stevens says her experience as a yearbook editor has in part inspired her to continue her education in journalism.

“I’m doing journalism as my major, and I want to do photojournalism again and work on the newspaper or magazine at my college,” Stevens said. “I’m also going to college with two [editors] and that will be really fun.”

Stevens says she enjoyed attending and photographing school events, such as the state football championship game.

“At the state game when they won the trophy I was in the middle of everything, around all these professional photographers,” Stevens said. “It was really cool to be a part of all that.”

Many small deadlines lead up to the final deadline, which the editors always commemorate with a celebration.

“Creating something you worked so hard on and then sharing that with the rest of the school is something that not everyone can do,” Jadormeo said. “It’s just nice to make something you worked so hard on, release it, and have people appreciate it.

As the year draws to a close and the books begin to return from the presses, the editors reflect on the importance of the yearbook to their high school.

“You can’t remember all the things that happen in high school, and it’s something to look back on five, or ten, or twenty years from now,” Jadormeo said. “People usually think about high school as the worst time of their life, but it’s still a part of their life. It’s important to look back at these moments and see yourself grow from this weird freshman to an [adult].

Yearbooks are available for purchase on smart-pay.com. Buy yours today!