While many students look forward to the end of the year to receive their yearbook, The Shield, those who are designing the publication must devote time and effort to produce the yearbook by the deadline.

As the editor of the academic pages, junior Bianca Hinojosa looks forward to her role in producing this year’s The Shield, which follows the theme “Ending on a High Note.”

“I had never been in high school yearbook before,” Hinojosa said. “I thought it would be fun to be in charge of a section and see if I can do it.”

Although it is her first year in yearbook club, Hinojosa recognizes the benefit of getting to know other students better through her leadership position.

“I really enjoy being in yearbook,” Hinojosa said. “I like creating the pages and interviewing people. I quickly get to know aspects about them that I did not know before. I also like hanging out with my friends and working on pages with them.”

Despite the pressure and stress of editing, being an editor gives her an opportunity to develop leadership skills, Hinojosa says.

“Being an editor is hard, because I have to go through each academic page and make sure everything is spelled correctly and see if people are tagged in each picture,” Hinojosa said. “But I enjoy being in charge of a section, and I get help from others in yearbook.”

According to Hinojosa, yearbook adviser Bessalee Mendoza offers help and guidance so the editors can finish The Shield by its deadline.

“I get a lot of help from Mrs. Mendoza,” Hinojosa said. “She fixes pictures and helps with the paragraphs written on each page. She also gives me creative ideas for each page, such as what the layout should look like and what colors would compliment each other.”

Based on her experience with Hinojosa over the past semester, Mendoza says that she is a determined worker who dedicates time to making the yearbook a success.

“Bianca is a hard worker,” Mendoza said. “She works very hard, and she is working on it after school most of the time. She also puts a lot of time and effort into it.”

Fellow yearbook editor Kendall Wheeler, ’12, who serves as the opening and ending editor, says that Hinojosa contributes innovative ideas and serves as a valuable editor.

“Bianca and I are doing a couple of pages together,” Wheeler said. “She comes up with great ideas and she definitely knows what she is doing. I am glad that I can work with an editor like Bianca.”

Hinojosa says that yearbook is one of the unique clubs offered on campus. Despite the stress, yearbook pushes her to be creative and allows her to put her original ideas on paper, she says.

“Yearbook requires me to be both creative and a little like a journalist, because I have to create pages and come up with different questions and mini-features,” Hinojosa said. “I enjoy being an editor and creating pages, but it is stressful when people don’t finish their pages and I have to do it for them.”

Although she feels pressure during her first year on the yearbook staff, Hinojosa plans to continue her job on the yearbook next year because of the benefit it brings to fellow students.

“This year is a bit crazy,” Hinojosa said. “The fact that all of us on the yearbook staff are new makes me think it will be more organized next year. It is a lot of fun to work on the pages and create something the students will keep for years to come.”

For more information on yearbook, read the Jan. 13 article, BRIEF: Yearbook services, customizations available.

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