By Ellen Siefke

Copy Editor

The Crest staff walked into their fifth-period class on Wednesday, Jan. 22, expecting just another hectic day working on their spreads due the following Monday. They were eager to put the final touches on their pages, but advisor Nicole Stoltz had other plans.

She explained that she had created the new yearbook Twitter account for the year and told them all to check it out. Upon looking it up, they discovered they had accumulated numerous awards at the 2013 IJEA Yearbook contest, including a prestigious 2nd place overall yearbook for their division. Although according to Editor-in-chief and junior Caroline Chengary, many of them had completely forgotten about the contest, they were quite pleased.

“It was really exciting,” Chengary said. “We weren’t expecting it because we did OK last year. We were like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome.'”

Adding even more to the excitement was the drastic improvement in this contest over the past few years. According to Stoltz in 2011, the yearbook didn’t even place, and last year only yielded a third place for best sports coverage. She attributes the change to a number of causes, including a confident and prepared staff as well as strong editors who take ownership of the pages.

According to Stoltz, each school submits its entire yearbook and provides a list of specific pages for entries for each of the eight categories. Judges then focus on these pages as well as look at the book as a whole, making notes on how the pages are crafted and the creativity of different layouts. Doing so well puts The Crest at the same level as some of the best staffs in the state.

In the contest, all schools are divided into six divisions based on enrollment, and Prospect is in the sixth divison with schools like Glenbrook South, who beat them in the best overall yearbook category, Oswego East and McFallon. Competing with such large schools meant that they were up against some staffs much larger than theirs, making the achievements even sweeter.

“I’m really proud of the staff,” Chengary said. “It gives confidence to the people who were on [yearbook] last year, and the new members can see that oh, yearbook is actually good and that we have a chance to win next year.”

As for the future, both Chengary and Stoltz feel the pressure to repeat and improve upon the success, but they feel confident in their current book. At the end of the day, though, Stoltz just wants the staff to improve their skills and make themselves into the best editors they can be.

“I’d like to keep up the awards since it’s always nice to have your work recognized, but I really just expect them to do the best job they can and keep putting the effort forth,” Stoltz said. “That’s really why they’re here.”

Results of the contest

2nd place overall best yearbook

Ist place: Best theme development

1st place: Best coverage of the school year

2nd place: Best use of photography

3rd place: Best copy writing

3rd place: Best graphics

Honorable mention: Best sports coverage

Honorable mention: Best layout and design