What comes to mind when you hear the word yearbook? If you are like me, you probably start to envision your Mom or Dad dusting off some old raggedy book and reminiscing about their own high school experiences. On the other hand, you could be one of those people who feel as though the yearbook has absolutely no effect on you and you just simply don’t care.
Well not anymore, because this year’s yearbook entitled “Suit Up,” hopes to change all of that by implementing new ideas and creating a cohesive theme that all Jesuit students can relate to, making it not something that will just collect dust on your shelf for the next thirty years.
The aim of the 2014 yearbook entitled “Suit Up: the Last Roundup” was to have a “cohesive theme that all Jesuit students could relate to and enjoy” explained by Mrs. Holmes, proctor and adviser of the Yearbook Club.
“Suit Up” has definitely caught the attention of just about every Jesuit student and managed to sky rocket the club’s popularity among the Jesuit community. Photographer and writer Charlie Finnegan ’16 explained that “the number one goal of the Suit Up yearbook was to relate to Jesuit students, as well as, make the audience feel as though they were actually there.”
The changes made this year have helped revolutionize the approach to creating and designing the yearbook: “This year we put a lot more effort into spreading the theme throughout the book, while still keeping the overall tone lighthearted and fun” commented photographer Alex Kurilecz ’16. Editor in chief, Michael Shropshire ’15 reiterated that “as a staff we decided that we wanted to do. We wanted something no one else in the nation was doing, and ultimately came up with Suit Up.”
The look of “Suit Up” has definitely helped set it apart from any ordinary yearbook. This year, it features a plethora of pictures, each flanked by a detailed explanation, all surrounded by colorfully detailed backgrounds that help each individual picture stand out. Mrs. Holmes explained, “We wanted each page, along with the pictures on them, to help chronicle the whole year.” The staggering amount of detail makes the yearbook feel like each and every page is conveying the story of not just an individual student, but the stories of several students’ thoughts and feelings conjoined into one.
Photographer Hogan Heartsill ’16 expressed that, “the pictures are there for the person reading it to have a nice image to look at that goes along with the theme of the page.” The book also conveys a sense of community among Jesuit students, with every page reiterating the themes of integrity, brotherhood, and justice, no matter the difficulty. Head of Accounting Pryor Miller ’16 believes that, “The theme…is what makes this year’s yearbook stand out the most. The look of the yearbook really ties in what Jesuit is as a community and as a school into one cohesive unit.”
In addition to the changes made in the look and theme of the yearbook, the members of The Last Roundup also added a section in which they outline the strengths of each grade at Jesuit, using the talents of individual students to showcase the uniqueness of their respective classes. “We picked out specific people from some of the stories we covered to help emphasize the impact of each activity and what its overall impact is on the school and the students”  explained Alex Kurilecz.  The keyword here is “emphasize”– something that “Suit Up” does an impeccable job of; the reader can definitely feel the impact of each individual activity.
There is a vast amount of diversity among the activities of the students, which added a great deal of difficulty in creating this section. Michael Shropshire exclaimed that “our goal in the profile section was to illustrate how every Jesuit student in their own way suits up, we picked out people in all kinds of different activities and asked how they ‘Suited Up’  for that activity.” Even with this huge variety of interests, one never feels like a single club or activity was left out or forgotten. Every club gets the acknowledgement and respect that it ultimately deserves.
“Suit Up” not only affected the members of the Yearbook Club, but also changed the club itself. While each member didn’t share the same jobs or stories as one another, all agreed that the club has helped them grow in an extremely positive way. “I have become a whole lot more organized and driven because I always want to make the advisers and the upperclassmen happy. In addition, I am a lot more open to the multitude of things that Jesuit has to offer” recounted Pryor Miller.
The students in charge of the yearbook have also “learned new talents” and “have been able to expand their abilities through the yearbook” stated Alex Kurilecz. When speaking with Mrs. Holmes, she recalled the days when the club had only five members: “We have grown so big now, that we even have to reject some people.” The 2014 yearbook has definitely set the standard for future yearbooks, both in style and in the message conveyed to the Jesuit community.
The pressure is on for the club to recapture their success with another great yearbook, which begs the question, “Can lightning strike twice?” With the competent and committed cast of students that make up the yearbook committee, it is safe to say that the answer to that is a resounding “yes.”
