rbooks: the time capsule filled with illegible signatures, hundreds of pictures, and this year’s memories. And, as Yearbook Head Pau Maaset puts it, “Parker wouldn’t be the same without them.” 

Production for the 2022-2023 yearbook began early in the first semester, and Maset explains the time commitment to creating the yearbook. “It’s crazy that people don’t understand how long this process really takes,” Maset said. 

Since every member of the yearbook team has a unique job, from designing the sports pages to formatting Senior Superlatives, “There’s definitely something for everyone working on the yearbook to work on and get excited about,” Maset said. “Everyone here is clearly passionate about their pages!”

Yearbook Faculty Advisor Alicia Abood highlights the difficult task Parker high schoolers have when creating the yearbook. “It’s part of the school’s tradition, and everyone kind of expects it to be in their hands at the end of the year,” Abood said. “It’s a K through 12 yearbook, and you only have upper school students producing it and working on it.” 

Abood explains that the creation of the yearbook begins with “a ladder of what needs to get done between the beginning of the year and the end of the year.” Since the Yearbook moves chronologically from events at the beginning of the year to the end, the Yearbook Club “has access to all of Mr. Saracino’s photographs. We really rely on these tools to produce these books,” Abood said. 

However, Abood believes that since Yearbook is a club not a class, “there’s a limit to how much The Yearbook Club can pull off successfully because we’re not constantly working on this every single day.” This restricts the time that Yearbook Club members are realistically able to spend working on the yearbooks, and Abood wishes there was more time to “work the writing.” 

Although Yearbook Club doesn’t have the time during the school day to work on the yearbook, the editors host meetings at least once a week with Abood, and other meetings with the entire Yearbook Club. “These meetings are extremely important, and we rely heavily on these meetings to work together,” Abood said. 

Maset also stresses the importance of these meetings. “They help us stay organized and on track. It’s a great time for people to ask questions or get any clarification,” Maset said. “Most of the work is done on our own time, so these meetings are really nice.”

Although Junior Simon Levin looks forward to the yearbook every year, yet he believes many sections of the yearbook that Parker has removed should be reinstated. “I definitely think the 14-year gang should be included. I get that they removed it for ‘inclusivity purposes,’ but it was for sure one of my favorite parts of the yearbook.” 

On Class Day, Levin enjoys “seeing what other grades have been up to and what happened with sports teams” while also “looking for pictures” of himself and his friends. And, although Levin isn’t completely aware of the behind-the-scenes work of the yearbook, he appreciates all the time the Yearbook Club puts into this project. “We often don’t see it, but they definitely put a lot of time into making this for the whole school. It’s really impressive,” Levin said.

As the phrase “a new normal” has taken over the English language, the Parker yearbook has adapted to just that with “a new, shiny yearbook,” Maset said. “We’ve kept so many traditional elements but just kind of modernized it.” 

Parker is working with a new publishing company to create the yearbook this year. “The new company we’re working with allows us to have more time to create the yearbook and more flexibility in general.” 

As a result of this switch, Abood believes there will be some changes to the look of the yearbook.” There will definitely be some new elements in the yearbook because of this switch,” Abood said. “When you look at the yearbook, there will be things that the new company can do that the old company couldn’t do and vice versa.” 

When asked for a sneak peek into the yearbook’s theme for this year, Maset replied, “You’ll just have to wait and see!”