Starr’s Mill’s yearbook the Pride is proud to hold a gold medal in the Scholastic Yearbook Critique presented by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. This is not the yearbook’s first noteworthy award, as they have won consecutively over the last six years from multiple press associations.

Every year, student newspapers, magazines, yearbooks or online media submit their works to the Association, who then evaluates each entry and scores it based off of strengths and weaknesses, and offers suggestions. A gold medal is considered first place in ranking.

“It’s very prestigious to get a gold medal. They have very high standards,”  yearbook adviser Patt Coleman said.

Many factors contribute to the construction of an award-worthy yearbook. Details like photographs, captions, and quotes all have to be laid out in a certain way. The yearbook committee also has to keep an eye out for spelling and typing errors. “There’s not a yearbook out there that has no mistakes, but based on our ratings, we do a very good job at catching mistakes,” Coleman said.

The award couldn’t have been won if it weren’t for our yearbook committee here at Starr’s Mill. “[It’s] the high standards that we set in the class and on our students [and the] dedication and time we put into it,” Coleman said.

The yearbook committee aims to give students a yearbook worth having. “We want to give them a quality book,” Coleman said. Every year, Starr’s Mill tries to develop a yearbook that is even better than the one before. “I’m always trying to improve. Anything that’s new, Starr’s Mill wants to try that,” Coleman said. With a quality yearbook comes quality memories, which is why the yearbook committee believes that everyone should own a high school yearbook.

“It’s a way to look back. It captures exactly what happened. [Without it], you forget the things that happened,” Coleman said.