Yearbooks are something to treasure, something alumni can look back on years in the future to relive high school memories. Unfortunately, this year’s book might not live up to the award winning publication it has been in years past. Because of a lack of funds, the yearbook staff may be forced to cut senior superlative pages and sibling pages. Senior bios are next on the chopping block if sufficient funds aren’t produced.

Creating a yearbook for a school of over 1,700 students is not an easy task. From the beginning of the school year in September, to mid-January, it is a crunch for the staff to sell as many advertisements and books as they physically can. “We receive no money from the school,” said yearbook editor-in-chief Anna Johnson. “It’s up to us to raise the money.” The yearbook staff must raise close to $50,000 dollars in order to create the publication. As of mid-December, the staff still needs to raise between $10,000 and $13,000 to avoid making any cuts.

A recent editorial in The Stamford Advocate implied that the shortage of funds was due to the unwillingness of local businesses to advertise in the wake of the recent SHS sex scandal.  However, numbers provided by yearbook advisers to The Round Table appear to tell a different story. Yearbook adviser and art teacher Wendy Wade said, “At this time, the yearbook staff has sold approximately 55 ads. Fifty of those ads come from local businesses and in-school clubs and organizations. We have approximately five personal senior ads.” The main revenue problems appear to stem from a lack of senior ads, which are typically purchased by parents of graduating seniors.

Unfortunately, knowing that certain sections may be cut has discouraged students from purchasing a book; however, the only way to keep these sections intact is to sell books.  This creates a sort of downward spiral that the yearbook staff might face a tough time climbing out of.

The yearbook staff is continuing to push through to try and create the best book they can. They have recently created an Instagram account (@stamfordyearbook2015) to try and get students involved in their cause. “The students can only create a book they can afford,” said Wade.  “Students enrolled in Design and Publication, the course that creates the yearbook, are required to sell a minimum of two ads per quarter as part of their grade. We hope that the staff will meet their goal by the January 15th deadline.”

If anyone is interested in purchasing a yearbook or business/personal ad download the forms from the yearbook webpage http://stamfordhigh.org/yearbook1.aspx  or go to www.yearbookforever.com.