With the school year ending in a few months, deadlines are fast approaching for the Anchor publications team as they work tirelessly to finalize the stories and memories captured over the 2019-2020 school year. Their work began before the school year even started with summer planning so they were ready to cover stories, and now that work is close to finished.

“We have five deadlines, and we are on our fifth deadline right now,” senior Jessica Johnston, Co-Editor-in-Chief, said. “We’re close to the end, but we still have pages that have to be sent from the fourth deadline.”

On March 2, the 2019-2020 yearbook is due to be sent. Members of the Anchor are extremely excited as well as anxious about getting the deadlines met. According to yearbook adviser Sam Hanley, emotions are running high.

“(They feel) anxiety, stress,” Hanley said. “They don’t think that it’s gonna happen on time. But it is my 17th yearbook, and the staff is doing fine.”

He also mentions that he is proud of the team because of the effort they have put in with the coverage this year.

“This one will be a different yearbook than others,” Hanley said.

For this year’s book, the staff has implemented some changes, including new formatting and the addition of an entertainment section. Senior Co-Editor-in-Chief Keirstin Piatt says this year her experience has differed greatly from previous years because of her new role.

”It is my first year as Editor-in-Chief,” Piatt said. “This year has been pretty chaotic for me. Getting the task done and meeting deadlines was our main focus.”

According to Johnston, meeting the deadlines has been very stressful because for as long as it takes to get coverage from different events, it takes the same amount of time to edit them and ensure everything is uniform.

“Sometimes it is hard trying to make sure those things match because when we send in the pages, we can’t really get them back or it is a long process to try to,” Johnston said. “This year, I think I’m more proud of the staff and the creativity of their ideas that they came up with to cover.”

Section editor and junior Jessica Lemons is happy about this year’s diversity of coverage. According to Lemons, last year they had trouble finding events to report on, but this year they’ve been able to cover a number of pep rallies, school dances, fall musicals and sports games. She also is proud of their coverage of more in-depth areas, like vaping. Like Piatt, she says her experience as a member from last year to this year has changed.

“When I first started, I thought ‘I’m going to be the one excluded because I don’t talk much,’ but it has really brought me out of my comfort zone,” Lemons said.

Senior Olivia Scaggs, one of the Anchor’s section editors, says each year they face difficulties at the beginning, but they get better as time passes.

“…After we work out the bumps and get the communication down, the year usually goes super smooth,” Scaggs said.

According to the Anchor team, they are looking forward to this yearbook because they’ve tried their best to improve their work and their design.

“I’m excited to see what the book looks like,” Johnston said. “I hope the students like it. It is really different from the previous years.”