Menlo’s yearbooks, which are handed out at the end of each school year, have always been a time capsule of photos and memories for students to look back on. However, when most of this school year has been spent off-campus, the student yearbook staff has had to make adjustments.

Senior Ronier Babiera, the editor in chief of the yearbook, knows it will look different this year but is optimistic that it will still be just as special. “The yearbook this year will include photos from socially distanced events on campus and hybrid learning,” Babiera said in an email to The Coat of Arms. “I think students will appreciate photos of students in masks and other slight differences on campus being documented.” 

The yearbook staff has not made any major changes to the format or content of the yearbook, but will include photos of students working from home and socially distanced events. Additionally, some page themes may have different highlights than other years; for example, the staff may include a sports page focusing on seniors and captains rather than on photos from games or practices. 

Sophomore Lucas Vogel, a member of the yearbook staff, feels that there is not as much to do in the Yearbook class as in his freshman year. Vogel is looking forward to hybrid learning starting again because there will be more chances to document students on campus. “In the [fall], it was easy because we [had] photos, so we were able to make pages. But now […] we’ve kind of used up all of our photos,” Vogel said. “Once hybrid starts, we’ll probably get more photos of people in classes and stuff like that.”

Like Babiera, Vogel thinks the yearbook will be just as memorable, or even more memorable, than in previous years. “I think this is probably one of the most memorable yearbooks, just because 2020 and 2021 are some of the craziest years in our lifetimes,” Vogel said.

Senior Allison Pittman likes looking back on past years and memories in the yearbook. “I still have all of my yearbooks from elementary and middle school, and I love looking back through them,” Pittman said. “I am a little disappointed that my senior year yearbook will not be […] the same as past years, but nothing about my senior year has been the same, so I guess it’s what is to be expected.”

Similar to Pittman, freshman Alisha Jain is disappointed that her first high school yearbook will not be the same as other years. “I guess I am a little disappointed, […] but given the circumstances, I’m not very upset,” Jain said.