West Valley yearbook’s high standards provide rewards

Photo by Ross Lilly, Reporter

FUN AND DEDICATION — West Valley’s Aquila Yearbook editor-in-chief Sarah Phillips, left, and associate editor Chandee Srisawan put the finishing touches on the fall sports section of the 2006-07 yearbook. While last year’s yearbook won numerous national awards, the staff continues to strive for even greater accomplishments.

The 2005-06 West Valley High School Aquila Yearbook was recently distinguished with a first place ranking and received an award for “Outstanding Division Pages” by the American Scholastic Press Association.

The outstanding division pages award was in regards to the yearbook’s timeline breaking down West Valley’s 25th Anniversary.

The honors were particularly special because the awards are not broken down by enrollment, meaning that last year’s staff of 16 students was competing against schools of all sizes, all over the country.

“I feel this class makes a difference at West Valley,” said this year’s editor-in-chief Sarah Phillips, who also took the yearbook class last year. “The students can appreciate the work we do for the rest of their lives.”

Debbie Chrasta has been the yearbook advisor for the past three years and while her husband, Mark, is the newspaper advisor on campus, Debbie jokes, “We control all written media at West Valley.”

The Chrastas attended California State University, Chico, where Mark was a journalism major and Debbie was educated in liberal studies.

“It’s nice to have somebody there to answer my questions,” said Debbie. “We’re really pushing (yearbook class) to be more like a journalism class, not just a picture book.”

The strategy seems to be working wonders for the Aquila Yearbook team, along with last year’s honors the 2004-05 team was awarded first place among small publications at Capitol Journalism Day and was named a ninth place recipient by the National Scholastic Press Association.

According to Debbie, many yearbook staffers are unable to return in consecutive years because of conflicting schedules with college preparatory classes; however, a new group of close-knit students looking to have fun and work hard always emerges.

“We have high standards in this class. We recruit hard workers that want to do well and most of us are borderline perfectionists,” said Debbie. “Some days these kids stay after school for an additional four or five hours and, because they can access the yearbook online, they do a lot of stuff at night and on the weekends.”

The dedication among the staff was never more evident than when Chastra was on medical leave for the month of September, “The kids did a great job. Their work ethic is amazing.”

The most telling statistic of West Valley’s all color yearbooks, one of the few in Northern California, may not be the awards they’ve received. It may not be the dedication of its staff members, or even the funds they’ve raised to keep yearbook costs affordable, but rather the popularity of the book with the West Valley student body.

“We have a 70 percent buy rate among our students,” said Debbie. “The kids here feel that the yearbook is really important and it makes our school look good.”