The Highlander yearbook wouldn’t function if it weren’t for the many parts that make up the yearbook. Usually, the Highlander is a well-oiled machine, but if someone doesn’t do his or her share, it turns into a frenzy. The yearbook staff relies on teamwork, so if something is missing it affects more than just that staffer. To make sure the yearbook runs as smoothly as possible, it is organized into an intricate, dependent system, similar to a food chain.

At the bottom of the food chain, are the yearbook photographers. Yearbook photographers have a very busy job, they supply photos to the staff, and are often sent out after school or to face teachers anger for a simple shot of a student. Usually the staffers are the people that rely on them the most, because staffers handle the jobs of the weekly spreads, covering pep rallies, school dances and events that happen in daily high school life. The majority of staffers are usually new to yearbook. They have the hardest job because they dive face first into the yearbook, and they have a lot to do. If they didn’t have their staff editors, they would be in trouble. Staff editors are very important to the staff because they are the biggest help to the staffers, getting them used to life on the Highlander staff. Staff editors talk to both senior staff and their assigned staffers, helping their staffers stay organized and making sure they complete their spread, by helping edit and making corrections to their spread before it goes up the line. Without staff editors, the staffers would be in peril, with the confusion and the complications that comes up while completing a spread.

“I have three staffers,” sophomore Elle Powers said. “I help them finish their spreads and keep them on track. When a staffer misses a deadline, it affects the rest of the staff because it delays the batch that was supposed to be sent out, slowing down production. I think that puts a lot of pressure on the staffer, so I help them do their spread quickly and efficiently.”

The index, specialty pages and teams pages each have their own group run by someone who specializes in that group. They make up the dividers, the teams, the senior ads pages and most importantly, the index. Without a doubt, the index is the most viewed pages in the yearbook, only because that is the first things students view to see what pages they’re on. The index editors are under a lot of pressure to have everything perfect because if not, Perkins has to face the wrath of all the parents. The teams’ editors also have a difficult job, they have to deal with sweaty athletes and their coaches who don’t respond to their countless emails asking for final scores and players names. They have to have all the teams’ rosters and be able to put the correct name of each player on print and be expected to be perfect.

Senior ads also have a lot of work. They have to deal with hundreds of parents as they schedule appointments to meet with them to make their kids ads. They comfort sobbing parents when they are told that there is no more space available to showcase their senior, or calm a raging parent when they are angry because something wasn’t perfect. All of these staff members have very exhausting jobs, but they always face them with a smile.

Those who help with the little jobs in the yearbook, such as the managing editors, business editors, and social media editor help the yearbook while not necessarily writing their names on a spread. The managing editors records all of the grades for Perkins so Perkins can help the staff complete their spreads. The business editors handle all the business for the Highlander, including making payments, and buying necessary things the staffers need.

On the top of the food chain, is the senior staff. Each class period has a senior editor and an editor in chief. They have two class periods and deal with the final grading and corrections of each spread. They often have to stay until late at night to help staffers finish spreads and finalize spreads to send off to the plant. The editor in chief relies on her senior editor to talk to the staff editors and specialty staffers so she can be more efficient in her work.

“The staff is designed so that each section has their editor to watch over them, so the senior staff can hold them accountable for their section, and we don’t have to go to each individual staffer. It’s helpful because it manages the number of people we have to talk to,” senior editor in chief Lauren Kemble said.

On the very top is Perkins, she runs the yearbook with ample humor but can and will be the bad guy when necessary. She tries her best to make sure everyone is having fun, but she makes sure that everyone is working hard and no one is slacking, but is often portrayed as the bad guy because of the stress of completing the yearbook.

The Highlander wouldn’t work if it weren’t for the many sections that make it up. The talented students in The Highlander work very hard every day, and even though the yearbook doesn’t exactly run smoothly, if everyone does their part, it comes together in the end as a perfect, beautiful book. Being on the Highlander, you’re expected to always do your best, not just in your work but in your actions as you conduct Highlander business, because your work doesn’t just reflect on you, it reflects on the entire Highlander staff. Yearbook is not for everyone, but working on the yearbook and seeing your completed work brings a certain self-satisfaction that you won’t find anywhere else.