High school graduation is one of life’s biggest milestones. This yearbook is the perfect way to sum up the high school experience, whether it has been four years or for some at Williston, six.

This year, Williston’s yearbook is experiencing several changes for the 175th. The book has always been a reflection of a year’s worth of hard work by both the faculty advisor and the yearbook team; however, the approach to The Log this time around is going to be different.

The new faculty adviser, Mrs. Kate Garrity has been planning new design techniques over the past several months, and surprisingly, the yearbook is already in the making. 

Last spring The Log team missed a day of classes and spent the day in the common room of John Wright dorm. A special guest came in to teach them more about design options and how to work the website, “hjdesign” which is used to create the book.

 The members of the team are starting the year with several goals. Hannah Fitzgerald ’16, editor of the yearbook, explained  that one goal is to “make the book look as eye catching as possible while adding new touches along the way.” She continued, “I hope not a single page goes unread this year.”

In previous years, the yearbook has been more traditional in its approach and its format. “The entire yearbook staff is ready for something new, something more modern,” Fitzgerald said. 

This year, another goal for the book is to bring variety. A different layout is going to help bring a unique look to the book.

The yearbook is a special way to reminisce on the memories they have made as a Williston student, especially for the seniors.

Whether a six year senior or a Post Graduate, each student will be mentioned in the yearbook, and as Mrs. Garrity said, “we are going to make it as inclusive as possible.” 

The club is “dedicated to include the voice of every senior,” she added.

The yearbook is definitely a “behind the scenes” club. The school is never fully aware of how much time and energy goes into the creation that the students are handed in the spring. Mrs. Garrity stressed this when she said, “this is a huge project, worked on by a huge group of people.”

Mrs. Garrity and the club are not afraid to shake things up. Although they are dedicated to tradition and representing the school’s history in the 2016 yearbook, they meet often and have several new and exciting ideas to bring to the table this year.

Mrs. Garrity admitted that the whole creation process “could be daunting with so many tight deadlines, but’” she continued, “it is just as rewarding to watch the whole senior class come together around a common vision.” 

Mrs. Garrity was certain that she wanted to work on the yearbook because she has always been interested in designing posters, handbooks, and slideshows.  However, what really convinced her to be the advisor of the yearbook was “that Mrs. Michalski, the previous yearbook advisor, will still be around as a consultant,” she explained. Garrity added, “It is so nice to have that kind of expertise right across the street.”

Mrs. Sue Michalski was the yearbook advisor for fifteen years. She has spent endless hours producing yearbooks. The thing she enjoyed most about devoting so much time was that she “enjoyed working with kids in a different capacity, in many cases getting to know them extremely well.” To represent how much technology has evolved, she noted that they had to use “giant physical layout sheets and physical photos which were cropped by hand with red crayons, then submitted to the printer in a ginormous envelope per spread,”  she noted.

One of the biggest challenges, Michalski said, was “Time. There was not enough of it.”

Michalski noted that she feels confident about leaving the yearbook in the hands of Mrs. Garrity, who is “creative, organized, and very capable.” However, she is still a consultant for The Log.  

When it comes time for the yearbooks to be distributed in May, the team hopes to bring a smile to students’ faces and a feeling of fondness about  their time at Williston.