Today we’d like to introduce you to Rita Flowers.
Hi RITA, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
We are a 2000 plus student enrollment school at Alpharetta High School. My staff is responsible for producing the yearbook and our goal is to cover each student a minimum of three times each. Due to the pandemic, we’ve faced canceled activities, absent classmates, limited access to classrooms, and more as we’ve attempted to create the 2021 Yearbook that reflects a school year like no other. Our goal was to create something that shows the influence of COVID-19, without letting it become the whole story. Last year we did not have any issues gathering material because by the time the virus forced schools to close, we had submitted everything to our publisher. This year however, the pandemic changed everything. Large group pictures, a yearbook staple, was no longer a given. This year has been a struggle but the editors and staffers (some face-to-face and others virtually) went above and beyond to create the book.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
My staff has been exceptional despite the pandemic and obstacles they faced. On a few occasions, they needed to be prepared with a Plan B for pages. For example, we knew that activities could get cancelled as we progressed through the year. The Homecoming Dance was cancelled. During preplanning, the staffer had to have a Plan B. Once it was cancelled, those pages became a spread covering “best friends.” Other obstacles we survived included: *Access to classrooms *Cancelled events *Identifying students in mask *Clubs barely met *Field trips were cancelled *Staff trainings and conferences were cancelled *Contacting virtual students were harder *Scheduling senior portraits needed extension after extension).
All right, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I take pride in my role as the Yearbook Adviser at Alpharetta High School. This is my seventh book advising and by far the best staff to work with. As the adviser, I oversee selecting and training students for their roles, provides guidance and encouragement, manages deadlines, completes final reviews, works with Jostens for publishing and signs off before printing. I am most proud of my Editor-in-Chief, Megan Eng, who motivated and assisted the staff in getting everything they needed to create a book in the middle of a pandemic. The Edge strives to inform, educate, and entertain the student body of Alpharetta High School as a student-produced yearbook. The yearbook will serve as a designated PUBLIC forum for student expression on student life, clubs & organizations, athletics, academics, people, and community. It will also serve as an educational opportunity for the members of The Edge staff to learn the different attributes of journalism.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
We hope to still be creating yearbooks for years to come. I am trusting that the program continues to excel and grow.
Contact Info:
- Email: alpharettahsyearbook@gmail.com
- Instagram: @alpharettayrbk
- Twitter: @alpharettayrbk
Image Credits
Megan Eng
