Memories Encapsulated with Excellence
Through creativity, diligence and brilliance, the yearbook contributors work tirelessly every day to transform blank screens into colorful pages that students can use to reflect on their time at SBS. The yearbook team at Second Baptist School is unique because it is made up entirely of students. When upper schoolers select “Yearbook” as an elective course to fill a spot on their daily class schedule, they sign up to spend each day interviewing their peers, creating spreads, taking pictures and editing each other's work. Junior Joanie Darnall shares that “being a yearbook editor is a lot of fun and extremely rewarding, but it also requires a lot of work, as we are expected to meet various deadlines and accomplish many tasks.” Their hard work did not go unnoticed. Second Baptist School’s 2020 Aquila Yearbook was just inducted into the Walsworth Gallery of Excellence!
A Remarkable Accomplishment
Each year over 15,000 yearbooks from across the country are submitted to the Walsworth Gallery of Excellence, and only the top 50 books receive this distinction. Awarded only to yearbooks that consistently demonstrate superior quality, this accolade displays the incredible capabilities of a small group of SBS students striving for a high caliber result. The yearbook team feels “honored and humbled” by such an outstanding feat. Kendall Pennington ‘20, Summer Conkling ‘20 and Caroline Gordon ‘20 served as the co-editors in chief for the 2019-2020 book. Madilyn Rook ‘21 states that “Kendall, Summer and Caroline put in a lot of extra hours to make Retrospect, last year’s edition, possible. We absolutely love the colors and the theme they were able to bring to life.” Madilyn is currently the editor-in-chief for the 2020-2021 yearbook.
A Note from the Yearbook Editors
Joanie Darnall describes last year’s theme as one of celebration by “looking back on the past and showcasing all the exciting things we’ve done as a school.” The yearbook stood apart from others because of “all the bright and bold colors. Our goal is to always produce a yearbook that is aesthetically pleasing and polished.” Madilyn Rook's favorite thing about yearbook is “that it is such an avenue for creativity and teamwork. I absolutely adore working alongside the other yearbook staffers and editors; our book wouldn’t be possible without them.” Junior Taylor Nunes reflects that “you really get a grasp on all sorts of areas, whether it be taking photographs, editing a story or designing a spread. Yearbook class creates an avenue for good skills to be developed. This class teaches you a lot.” Madilyn closes by saying that “releasing the newest edition of our book is extremely rewarding because other people finally get to see all of our hard work. Most of what we do is behind the scenes, so that moment is always really special.”
The Aquila serves as a tangible memory for SBS students to reminisce on through its display of pictures and words recounting years past. The yearbook students spend so much time immersed in the culture of our school by reporting on events and happenings from lower school all the way through middle and upper. They are now working on the yearbook for the 2020-2021 school year. Stay tuned for the announcement of its theme and its release!
We are so grateful to the yearbook contributors for their skillful work of encapsulating the memories of an entire school year at SBS within the binds of a single book.