Despite the rumors circling around the building of no yearbook this year, the yearbook staff will be publishing a yearbook full of 2020-2021’s memories. Yearbooks can be purchased now for $75 from Walsworth.com, but on March 1 the price will increase to $85. Students can also start a payment plan in room B201 with $20 down.

One cause for the rumor may be that school pictures have not occurred this year for anyone but seniors. Pictures for juniors, freshman and sophomores will be March 8th and 9th.

“We usually have pictures the second week of school,” yearbook adviser Emily Meachen said. “But we were still remote. Then students transitioned to in-person learning, but only 60% of our students were back. When I started trying to book picture dates, we started encountering benchmark testing and other school wide events that made school pictures difficult. We now have a date and a new photography studio. I am super excited to have photos scheduled.”

Meachen has ensured that any rumor about not having a yearbook or only a yearbook featuring seniors is false.

“I have heard rumors that the yearbook is not happening this year,” Meachen said. “That is totally false. We work every week to cover what is happening at WHS. Sports, academics, clubs, homecoming, senior night – they are all in the yearbook.”

Yearbook editor senior Sure Ibukun has supervised many stories and photograph opportunities to make sure this year will not be forgotten.

“We worked really hard on a theme that does not make COVID a cliche event but accurately describes what we all have been going through,” Ibukun said. “The fact that we write two to three stories every week shows that we are putting a yearbook together. We try to feature everyone in sports or any activities.”

Pictures are constantly being taken to preserve the students activities every week.

“I make sure if someone without a camera is not attending an event I go in order to make sure that every event is covered and will be in the yearbook or on the newspaper website,” photography editor junior Heather Jackson said.

One major goal of the year is to reach out and tell every student’s story of the year. Senior Andy Parker is assigned to ask at least three people a question about school, trends or just life in general.

“I walk around the halls until I see a kid I don’t know,” Parker said. “I ask them if they want to be in the yearbook, and then I ask them a question about school or what is going on in the world. It has put a lot of new faces in the book.”

Overall, any rumor saying COVID has cancelled the yearbook is false. Yearbook staff is always working to make sure that as many people and events on campus are covered in the yearbook.

“I am very excited to see this years yearbook because there is a lot going on around campus despite COVID,” junior Summer Rains said.