The staff of the Currents yearbook all crowded inside the stadium concessions stand holding the product of an entire school year’s worth of toil. For co-editor in chief Tiffany Luu (12), it was a ritual she had performed two times before. Alongside co-editor in chief Jade Becker (11), they opened the first box after receiving the shipment of this year’s yearbook, May 29. When the staff of 10 caught a glimpse of the cover–the first time they had seen the finished book–they gushed. They had been working on this yearbook since last spring, and the long-awaited unveiling brought smiles and satisfaction. Luu said through all the ups and downs of the year-long production, the overall process was rewarding.

The other editor in chief is Jade Becker (11) and the senior editor is Hanah Lee (12), who joined this year. According to Luu, the number of people on the yearbook staff has decreased ever since both Luu and Becker joined in 2022. There were 14 people then, 10 people now.

Throughout the year, Lee said the Currents staff became a tight-knit community.

“Everyone has the same goal: to get this yearbook done [and] I think we got super lucky with the most relaxed, hard-working, and just dedicated people,” Lee said. “Press nights where we’re just sitting there for hours eating food together so you’re bound to get [closer].

Luu said Currents staff pour in countless hours of work behind the scenes that people don’t know about.

“First, we start with the theme, the fonts, [and] all the aesthetic stuff,” Luu said. “Then we’d go on the page design, [which is] what we want all these pages to have. We have to organize what page is what, and then who is assigned to that page. Then they can design it however they want, [and] what colors.”

Luu has been working hard the past few years to include more people in the yearbook.

“Last year, we started doing sidebars on the bottom [of the pages] just so we want to cover more people at the school,” Luu said. “I think it is a great idea because we get to involve more people who may be in the background, and now they have a chance to just by answering a question or two.”

Lee joined yearbook in her senior year, later than Becker and Luu. Unlike her middle-school experience, this book demanded more work from Lee, which initially surprised her.

“I was a little overwhelmed, but we break it into seasons, like fall, spring, and winter,” Lee said. “When you split the work up like that, it’s actually not as much as you think it would be. Everyone’s [also] eager to help each other out so that’s why the work is just so much easier.”

To Lee, the work was difficult but getting a chance to experience Westview’s culture made it worth it.

“My favorite [part of the yearbook] is having an excuse to talk to people [and] going to games,” Lee said. “I never before went to baseball or soccer games, and going to that many games was such a cool experience. I love the taking-photos aspect and the meeting-new-people aspect in yearbook. I feel like that was another way I got to meet new people [and] converse with them. In general, helping identify players and all that helps create small talk, so it’s really easy to do that.”

The book is especially important for seniors like Lee since it will be their last one before graduating.

“There’s a lot more at stake too because this yearbook is going to be for my entire high school,” Lee said. “I’m a senior and all my senior friends are going to have this yearbook because they’re graduating, so there was definitely a lot at stake.”

As much as the yearbook was created for their peers, it was also for the staff to create something memorable. Luu said that finally opening the yearbook was a wonderful experience.

“Every year when we open the boxes for the first time, it gives [me] a sense of accomplishment; seeing everything in print, feeling the texture of the cover, the texture of the glossy pages, seeing every detail that we argued on and stuff,” Luu said. “When we opened the boxes this year, we spent 40 minutes flipping through each page, complimenting how good each spread looks, reflecting on how some particular spreads gave us pain, and just laughing about it all. Sometimes, there’s one small discrepancy and we’re like ‘how did we let this slide,’ but in the end, those small mistakes are mostly ones that only the staff sees. Overall, it was a very exciting time for us, seeing everything come to life and passing them out and watching everyone else take in our work.”