For the first time in years, seniors at BASH have the opportunity to submit a quote, paragraph, or artwork for a new senior section in the 2019-2020 yearbook. The idea stemmed from advisers Mrs. Folk and Ms. Diaz looking for ways to help the Class of 2020 after a worldwide pandemic cut the year short.

“We thought allowing students to express their thoughts and/or feelings about how the shutdown has impacted their lives would be a wonderful way to honor them,” Mrs. Folk said.

Going beyond just the senior quote that typical high school yearbooks have, the new section allows the alternative choices of paragraph or artwork. Having “multiple means of expression” will hopefully bring every senior to participate.

“We felt it was very important to allow students to voice their feelings in a variety of ways,” Mrs. Folk said. “Some seniors are comfortable with their own words. Some seniors have a visual way of expressing themselves. Others are able to seek out words of wisdom from people they admire. It was our goal to allow multiple means of expression so that every senior would want to contribute.”

The yearbook, a massive compilation of events, sports, clubs, and people each year, was only about fifty percent complete when the school closure hit in March.

“We worked with a small, but mighty staff of four students this year. We are very proud of what the club was able to accomplish,” Mrs. Folk said.

Additionally, Yearbook Club got a flex enrichment that allowed a lot of work to be completed with many different students. During this flex, students helped acquire quotes and photos and completed some of the pages.

“This extra period of the day has been invaluable, and allowed many more students to have input into the yearbook than would otherwise have been possible,” Ms. Diaz said.

Aside from the new section, another new idea that was implemented this year was “quoting students on each page for the book,” according to Mrs. Folk.

“This will become a challenge as we try to complete the book over the summer months,” she said.

While without a cover for right now, the advisers work closely with Student Services to “design a cover that fits the overall theme of the yearbook,” Ms. Diaz said.

“In years past our cover was designed by students; however, with the restructuring of the art classes this has not been an option for the last several years,” she said.

Yearbook Club is also seeking more photos from the senior class trip, as well as more quote/artwork submissions. Seniors hoping to submit a quote, paragraph, or artwork should complete the Google form in the email from the Boyertown Messenger on April 14 titled, “Brief note from BASH Yearbook to Students/ Parents/ Guardians.”

Click here to go to the yearbook order site. Please email Mrs. Folk or Ms. Diaz with senior trip photos.