By Satvika Ramanathan
The Cougar Star
Clague MS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The yearbook team is working hard to make sure that the yearbook for this year really encapsulates what it has been like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA few years from now, we will actually realize what we did during the pandemic from our bedrooms and think that\u2019s so cool,\u201d yearbook club adviser Sara-Beth Badalamente said. Because this time is so unusual, the yearbook team is doing their best to ensure that the yearbook for this year is even better than before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think that this has been the perfect transition,\u201d Badalamente said. \u201cIt\u2019s always tough when a teacher retires, but with us being virtual, now everyone has an opportunity to join.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the retirement of the previous yearbook teacher, Mrs. Reiher, they decided to turn the yearbook into a club rather than an advisory, so that anybody in all three grades would have the ability to join. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe toughest challenge that we\u2019re up against is that there aren\u2019t events for us to cover the way we normally would,\u201d Badalamente said. \u201cThere are no sports, everyone\u2019s been on Zoom, and we are relying on our student body to submit photos of what they\u2019re doing during this virtual time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They have been reaching out to the student body through Clague\u2019s principal, Che Carter, and his announcements. Every week he will put a link in for people to submit photos; that is one of the easiest ways to ensure that people\u2019s pictures will be included in the yearbook. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy favorite part of the club right now is watching the kids create the designs,\u201d Badalamente said. \u201cI think there\u2019s something magical that happens. It\u2019s one thing to have a template and just throw the pictures on, but the yearbook group is actually taking grids, picking what\u2019s going where, and then putting in the content to have a really pretty result.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She sees the progression of the work from the brainstorming all the way to the physical book, which is a long and complicated process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven though we\u2019ve had to teach everyone about yearbook design from the very beginning, it\u2019s been very easy,\u201d Badalamente said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She thinks that it\u2019s because everyone that\u2019s there really wants to be, and it\u2019s proven by the fact that they wake up at seven in the morning every Tuesday, an even bigger feat in the middle of a pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a very significant year that we\u2019ll want to remember, so we want to make sure that what\u2019s going into our book is really going to bring back the memories of this year,\u201d Badalamente said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The theme for the yearbook this year is based off of the fact that the Clague Cougars always persevere, so the theme of the yearbook this year is \u201cun\u201d to show that we keep being resilient, and even if we are not physically together, it doesn\u2019t mean that we can\u2019t still be strong and keep going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want to showcase that we didn\u2019t just sit in our bedrooms in front of our screens,\u201d Badalamente said. \u201cThese are all things we were thinking about, learning about, things that we actually did while we weren\u2019t in the building.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ve been doing everything that they can to guarantee that everything goes smoothly and the yearbook comes together nicely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want everyone who wants a book to get a book,\u201d Badalamente said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are scholarships to apply for to get the book at a lower price because they want to make sure that anyone can buy a book. This year has been so unusual, so they want everyone to have some way to remember what it was like learning online. You can buy the yearbook here, or look in the previous emails and updates Mr. Carter has sent out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even if we can\u2019t be physically together at this time, the yearbook team will do their best to make sure that in the future, we will be able to look back at this year and realize how unique it was and how we got through it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait for the special moment when the yearbook comes out and everyone reads the stories and remembers this historic year,\u201d Badalamente said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n