It may seem as though the school year has only just begun; however, yearbook staffers are already hard at work preparing the 2016-17 yearbook. With a staff of around 50 students, composing one book may not seem like a daunting task, but so much behind-the-scenes work goes into yearbook production that having many working hands is vital to success.

Before beginning official production, both new and returning yearbook staff members learn “the ins and outs” of working online with Herff Jones, the new yearbook program. Once trained, staffers are assigned spreads and given the goal of including every member of Winter Springs High School’s student body, a population of approximately 2,300 students.

This year, a marketing division has been introduced to yearbook. The new teacher, Ms. Francine Barnhill, enjoys the writing aspect of yearbook but believes marketing and sales are dually important. This division focuses on making sales through advertising and is already proving itself to be a beneficial addition.

The team creates commercials for the morning announcements and email blasts which will soon go out to those who have not yet bought a yearbook.

“We’ve sold more yearbooks than we ever have in the past few years at this time,” said Barnhill. “If you don’t have a marketing team or a business aspect team that’s out there pushing it, nobody’s going to see your great work.”

In addition to Ms. Barnhill, yearbook staffers are also under the guidance of student editors. Holding the position this year are seniors Valen Arismendi and Victoria Shalaby. For them, improvement is always the goal. Over the summer, yearbook editors from various schools in the area gathered at a camp where they learned about the latest yearbook trends and features.

“We’re doing something in the book that we’ve never done before, so we’re excited to see how it turns out,” said Arismendi.

Putting together a book with over three hundred pages and attempting to include every Winter Springs student can prove difficult, but the final product is always worth it.

“There are many times it feels stressful not knowing if an idea will look on paper how I imagined it in my head, but when that moment happens it’s like little fireworks go off,” Arismendi said. “I love being able to create something that will be enjoyed by all my classmates.”

The WSHS yearbook can currently be purchased for 70 dollars, but keep a look out for some Black Friday-type sales in November.