Behind the Scenes of Making Blake’s Yearbook

Every year, Blake High School anticipates the arrival of the yearbook. Seniors can’t wait to find out who earns the superlatives, athletes are hyped up to see their honors highlighted on the pages, and students hope and pray that their headshots will look nice. Have you ever wondered what it takes to make the yearbook? The Blake Beat spoke with this year’s yearbook staff and editors for a behind-the-scenes insight into their making process. 

The 2025-2026 yearbook staff is led by Ms. Kim, an English and Advanced Placement teacher here at Blake. When asked what the biggest challenge was when making the yearbook, Ms. Kim shared that it was starting from scratch. “There were no returning staffers, so no one had any prior experience with the editing software.” Adding that a lot was done in the first few weeks of school to select the editors and plan everything from the theme to layout organization. Ms. Kim previously taught the class a few years back; her familiarity helped with this process. Despite these challenges, Ms. Kim thinks the final product looks amazing, and she’s really proud of the staff and editors. Ms. Kim’s favorite memory when creating the yearbook lies with the students. “Hearing students get excited about the overall look and theme of the book and then seeing their pride when a concept comes together,” is truly Ms. Kim’s favorite part. 

The yearbook has an incredible team of about 20 students. The editor-in-chief, senior Anya Ottiende, who is a first-year member, has had nothing but a great experience. She shares that “it was pretty jarring to become editor in chief right away…we tried really hard to make the book better [in content and look] than last year,” in the hopes of having a happy Bengal community. Anya jokes that the theme took 3 weeks to decide! To note, Anya had an important job of editing the pages and filling in missing pieces. “I think seeing the ending product will be really rewarding!” 

Anya shared a lot of praise for the yearbook sponsor, Ms. Kim: “I had to stay after school on my birthday to edit [I felt a lot of responsibility] but didn’t really want to,” adding that “Ms. Kim made it really fun and got me and everyone else staying cupcakes and snacks.” Anya was truly thankful for this sweet gesture for her and her friends. Another memory Anya recalled was looking through the old yearbooks, going back to the Class of 1998, “It was so cool… they had some crazy things in their yearbook.” 

Senior layout editor Amira Bullock shared that it was also her first year working on the yearbook. “It was really fun [designing the yearbook],” Amira shared, “the theme is video games, and I really like playing them.” Amira and her peers were allowed to input unique creativity and ideas into this year’s book. Amira recommends students continue taking this class because of the range of pluses, such as communication skills: “We get to interview a lot of people in the Blake community.” Amira also praised Ms. Kim, thanking her for being kind and lenient about deadlines, though adding that it was definitely important to stay on top of things! Her favorite memory was coming up with the front cover as a class. “Even though the cover is minimalist, we came up with it together, speaking with the artists, and running it by the staff.” The classroom has become a safe space: “Everyone is kind, and we built a great bond… Ms. Kim definitely helped with her compassion, and she made this all happen!!” 

The yearbook is truly student-produced. Ms. Kim would want students taking the class next year to know: “It is really important for staffers to feel invested in the work they do.” Procrastination only slows the process, and if someone does not complete a task, another student fills in. “It’s more than just a class because their assignments are published for everyone to see.” Ms. Kim has high standards for quality and hopes students will too. 

The Blake Beat enjoyed covering the behind-the-scenes process on the creation of this year’s yearbooks! Thank you to those who took the time to interview. The yearbook has already sold out, and the community seemingly can’t wait to receive it starting next week. Seniors will receive theirs on Tuesday, and underclassmen distributions begin on Thursday. Students, please note that the staff would love to add new editions to the class next year. If you care about anything in the yearbook, cover, content, coverage, join the class! The more the merrier!