Years ago, yearbooks were simply a way to capture snapshots of school days in order to preserve some of the best times of growing up.  Now, thanks to Alice Rowe’s guidance, the Bridgeport High School yearbook is a work of art.  Rowe has taught countless students how to combine color, images, font, theme and layout into a masterpiece you can hold in your hand. 

 

One such student is Mateah Kittle, who has been given the honor of being the sole yearbook editor this year. The upcoming senior participated in a right of passage that past yearbook editors have gone through and she, along with teammate Olivia Amos, made quite an impression.

 

Kittle and Amos attended the prestigious Gettysburg Yearbook Experience in Pennsylvania, a comprehensive five-day workshop that offers courses in yearbook, desktop publishing and photography.  Among the 30 schools from 10 states, Bridgeport High School’s representatives were one of the smaller groups attending. Size certainly didn’t slow them down, however, as the team of Kittle and Amos excelled in the competition. 

 

The participants were known as Yerdletes, a combination of yearbook, nerd and athlete. Each team attended sessions featuring topics such as intensive photography, editorial leadership and theme development. The BHS team chose to focus their attention on theme development and endured an intense week of creating a theme for a mock yearbook.  The mock up included the cover, spine, front and back endsheets, title page, opening page, opening copy and one divider all with construction paper, glue and markers.

 

“We were very confident about what we presented and the judges loved our design and opening copy and didn’t have anything negative to say,” said Kittle. 

 

In the award ceremony, their hard work paid off.  Nervously sitting in anticipation, Kittle and Amos heard the words they had hoped to hear. 

 

“They were announcing the theme group section and suddenly we heard them announce Bridgeport High School from West Virginia,” said Kittle.  “We were in shock and so excited that we beat out all the other teams who were larger than ours.”

 

Needless to say, the 2015-16 yearbook is in good hands.  The girls are inspired and excited to begin the journey of creating a unique yearbook that will be cherished by their classmates for years to come.