With Covid-19, this year has been completely different from years past. But as Co-Editors-in-Chief of the Linden yearbook, our experience so far has still been amazing and exciting. Obviously, our responsibilities and opportunities have been limited due to the different grades’ cohorts, but as we progress through the year, we are making it work and adapting to this new situation.
Our advisors, Mrs. Spirig and Mrs. Burchfield, are amazing teachers and have guided us since last year. The other editors (Kosi, Ampi, Hadley, Gia, Scarlette, Priyanka, Gianna, and Lucy), are all great contributors to the Linden team. Each one of them brings something unique to the table. Our theme this year represents what we are pushing through as a school and how this year is like no other.
A big focus for us is to gather photos and to ensure that each Peck student appears in the yearbook. Thanks to Mrs. Cleary, our school photographer, we have pictures from the various cohorts from events such as the eighth-grade Chik-fil-A lunch, Halloween, assemblies, sports games, and daily classroom life. We are all very excited to see what pictures we’ll get these next few months from events, daily life, and the winter sports season!
Although we are having a great time so far, we have obviously had to reroute and build from the usual system of putting the yearbook together. One of the challenges we have faced is trying to identify the students that we don’t know. Usually we could ask around, but this year we don’t know many of the younger students because we can’t see or meet them. Additionally, masks are worn all throughout campus, so identifying students with masks on has added on to our issue. Even our software’s facial recognition software doesn’t work!
Another change we have had to make is fitting our schedules into other grades. For instance, we can’t take photos of each grade like we would normally do because it wouldn't follow the guidelines of Covid-19. Interscholastic sports games, school events, and assemblies have been cancelled or moved online, which also prevents us from capturing some moments for the yearbook.
We think that this situation that we are faced with this year is something that we can all overcome by working together and having a great time. Our roles this year in Linden have been challenging, but we have each been a leader in our own way. We need as much support as we can get and with leadership, creativity, and hard work, the yearbook is coming together as we move on through the year.
Although it is still early in the year, we are moving right along and getting pages done, one by one. They are looking amazing and we are excited to continue to incorporate the theme into each page. We have always looked up to the Linden editors from years past, and to be in this position as eighth graders, we are extremely excited to experience whatever comes next. Even though it is going to be a little bit different, we appreciate the opportunity to even have a yearbook this year. In the spirit of the holidays, we are all so grateful for this experience so far and whatever this year will lead us to.
