Pierre Capitol Journal
Gumbo
staff continues award-winning tradition
By CHUCK CLEMENT
Capital
Journal Staff
|
|
The 2005 Gumbo, the yearbook for
on today. This month, the Gumbo earned national recognition
for the 16th time during the last 17 years. (Capital Journal photo by Chuck
Clement)
The yearbook staff at
The staff of the Gumbo — the yearbook for the Pierre high school — learned this
week that the publication’s 2005 edition had won another All-American Award for
excellence in yearbook production from the National Scholastic Press
Association. All-American status is handed out to a selected number of high
schools, and this fall marks the 16th time during the last 17 years that the
Gumbo has earned national recognition.
Terry Peterson, a Riggs teacher and adult adviser to the Gumbo staff, will have
worked on 30 editions of the yearbook when the 2006 Gumbo — the edition that
students are currently producing — is handed out next fall. Peterson said the
greatest change in creating the yearbook lies in the area of technology.
“Back in the ’70s and ’80s, we used to cut and paste our photos onto layout
pages and write photo captions on typewriters,” Peterson said. “Now, we use
computers to lay out pages using Pagemaker software,
and we’ve gone to digital photography for the 2006 edition of the Gumbo.”
The awards from the NSPA are just the start for the praise that the Gumbo has
received. The yearbook earned its sixth consecutive Top of Class Award as the
best 2005 high school yearbook in
Peterson said the Gumbo’s senior editors in 2005, Kim Bartels, Amy Brandner, Rachel Knutson and Chris Williams, deserve
recognition for their work.
The Top of Class winner is selected from the All-State Award winners in the
state’s five divisions — classes that are organized by
the size of the schools’ student bodies. The Gumbo was given its 23rd
consecutive All-State Award at the Brookings convention.
Last, but not least —
Seven of the current Gumbo editors were asked to each browse through an edition
of the yearbook published during the last 24 years and offer some comments
about past publications and/or comparisons to their work.
Erin Titze, a senior editor, said the newer editions
of the yearbook have more photos and less writing, a style she thinks is more
interesting to young people.
“There are also more color photos that accent student activities and sports,” Titze said. “There are also more kids quoted, so they are
more involved in the book.”
Several of the editors noted the use of more color photos in recent Gumbo
editions. Natalie Nagle, a senior, also noticed that the 1993 edition didn’t
include any senior salutations, the written congratulations to graduates from
their families and friends.
Black-and-white photos were the standard for the yearbooks printed 20 years
ago, a far cry from the splashes of color that appear in more modern Gumbo
editions.
“We are spoiled in recent Gumbos with full color ‘people sections,’” Loryn Schuetzle, a junior editor
said.
The style of the Gumbo has also changed over the years. According to Alecia Johnson, a senior editor, the editors of the 1989
edition stuck with the same general design format throughout the book.
“Currently, we use a different design format for each division,” Johnson said.
“They make good use of shading and borders ... they make an excellent use of
their theme, tying it throughout the whole book.”
Seth Parsons, a junior editor, said the yearbook has improved even in the last
five years when the 2000 Gumbo was printed.
“The yearbook has shown great improvements in layout even from the 200 yearbook
to now,” Parsons said. “Each year, it gets easier to follow and is organized
for a ‘fun read.’”
Nate Chicoine, a senior,
thought the typography, or style of printing, for the headlines and captions
wasn’t as advanced in the 1993 Gumbo as it is today. Chicoine
said the more recent editions have better graphic designs for quote boxes and
scoreboards. He also noted a dramatic difference in the clothing and hair
styles from
Andy Smith, a junior, judged that the articles in the 1985 Gumbo were “very
straightforward” and, in his opinion, less interesting. However, Smith did see
some photos that caught his interest.
“I have to love the pictures of the classic students’ cars,” Smith said.
According to Peterson, the Gumbo currently has a staff of about 60 student
contributors, including four senior editors, four junior editors and a
photography editor. The Gumbo staff schedules 30-minute meetings on Monday
nights during the school year.
The editors are considered the yearbook’s design staff, writing captions and
headlines and choosing the book’s layout. The other staff members are support staff who perform other work such as laying out pages on
computers.
Peterson also teaches a half-credit class during the fall semester that focuses
on the yearbook. Those students produce about a third of the Gumbo.
“It’s considered an English class, but it’s an elective that students choose to
take,” Peterson said.
Peterson said the staff tries to finish as much work as it can during the fall
semester.
“The finish usually comes on June 1,” Peterson said. “The last thing that goes
into the yearbook is graduation or the state track meet.”
At mid-June, two senior editors come to the high school to check the proofs for
the latest edition before they go to the printer.