The Yearbook and School Memories

                                                 By Karen(우경주)

All readers of this article who were students of Saint Paul American School in Beijing (SPAS) last year should have fond memories of school life as captured in the 2009 yearbook. Yearbooks are a popular way to remember our young, enthusiastic academic lives. For the yearbook activity at SPAS, there are several students who will play a key role in shaping the publication for this academic year. 

Almost every American school has a yearbook, and they are also common in Korea, China, Turkey and other many countries each with their own yearbook traditions.  In Korea there are also memorial books similar to the yearbook. But different from American School yearbooks, if students pay for the book, the school administration makes the book and gives a copy to students when the book is finished. Usually schools just collect the photos and then give the photo files to the company that prints the book for seniors. “I really like the SPAS yearbook system, because in Korea, only seniors can get the book. But here, yearbooks are different. Students made the yearbook, and all students get a copy! I can remember every second I spend in this school. ” said Swan, a 10^th grade in Saint Paul American School whose nationality is Korean. 

In China, similar to Korea, schools take fewer photos, and mainly advertise the views of the school. And like Korea, the books are also only for the senior students who are going to graduate and the school make it for the students. Chinese students also leave their messages inside their yearbooks.

Turkey also has a similar system to the yearbook. As in Korea and China, only graduating senior students get a copy of the book. They also write messages in the books to remind them of their school lives. Different from American style yearbooks, Turkish yearbooks have a page for each student, with comments from both students and teachers. 

Last semester’s yearbook teacher has departed, and now Mr. Rhodes has taken over the position of yearbook activity supervisor. And also, from this semester on, all yearbook staff need a “Press Pass” to leave their class or activity for an assignment. A yearbook veteran from last semester said, “I think this semester’s staff are doing well, I saw some of the photos they have taken and they are quite good, and I believe Mr. Rhodes will lead this activity nicely.”

Many students in Saint Paul American School are now focusing on the yearbook. A Saint Paul American School Chinese teacher, Grace, said “I am really looking forward to seeing the next yearbook. I’m really excited. And I know that our yearbook staff members are really good at making yearbooks and I believe that they will make the next one with excellence.” Not only students and yearbook staff, but also teachers, are really focusing on the yearbook activity and want to get a nice edition of the yearbook like last semester.

 Yearbook is one of the biggest and most important jobs among all of students’ work. There are many sections of the yearbook which will be remembered even after students depart from school, like sports meet, Halloween party, Christmas party and a lot of school life and events. Including pictures, leaving messages, writing letters, and thinking about old memories makes former students feel joyful. Charlie, a student who just came to this school and the new Vice President of the Student Council, also likes our school’s yearbook, and would like to participate in the making of this year’s edition. “I really don’t care if they take my picture, anytime!” he said, “They can take my picture when I play American football, swimming. They can even come to soccer field while I play American football!” He really wants to participate in taking pictures for the yearbook, and not only him but there are other students will also want to participate in taking pictures. And Charlie also has advice for the yearbook staff, “I think the most important thing they should focus on when they make a yearbook is cooperation between the school and yearbook staff members.”

After the school year is over, all of the students like to sign their friends’ yearbooks and leave them a personal message. “I think this yearbook system is really good to record our memories.” Swan said. “Because it is really helps to reconnect with our old friends, and remember our experiences. So that is why I joined in for yearbook staff last year. For new staff members, I recommend you guys to just enjoy it. I know it will be hard, complicated and sometimes even boring to do this activity, but most of the time it will be fun. So please make a yearbook that all of us can remember!”

 Most of the students think leaving a message on other students’ yearbooks can keep them in touch for a longer time, and create shared memories. In fact, lots of students contact with each other by e-mail or messenger addresses they left on others’ yearbooks. Usually students in this school go to many different countries. Some go to America, some stay in China, and others go back to their own countries. Therefore, email is a great way to stay in contact across international borders.

Yearbooks are also useful to introduce our school to new students. Current students can use the yearbook to introduce school facilities, teachers, and students to new students by using photos and information found within it. For example, Mr. Rhodes, who now takes control of yearbook activity, brought last semester’s yearbook and showed it to the new staff members this year. He also made crosswords with vocabulary words taken from the yearbook to make the staff feel more interest in making this year’s book. They became more interested in the yearbook activity once they saw last semester’s yearbook. 

Some new students knows about Liz, who drew a design of our school mascot, and Hugo, Vesna, Paul and Abraham, who were featured in “superlatives” in last semester’s yearbook, even though they are not in this school anymore. But even reading and solving crosswords can make some relationships between people. Sometimes new students ask about students who are already gone, because they saw them in the school yearbook and want to know about them. However, they are no longer here in person, just in spirit within our yearbook!