South’s yearbook, The Etruscan, is a major publication that many South students look forward to, memorializing the school year for students to look back on, senior Abigail Gifargis, co-editor-in-chief, said. Spearheading this process is the new Etruscan adviser and English Teacher, Kristen Porter, Gifargis said.
As the adviser, Porter oversees the yearbook’s production, ensuring everything is running smoothly and communicating with Jostens, the company that produces and prints the yearbook, Senior Madesyn Hughes, co-editor-in-chief, explained. While The Etruscan is mostly student-run, covering a variety of events, clubs, and people, Porter is responsible for teaching journalism skills to new Etruscan staff members, Gifargis said.
“[The Etruscan] is a student-run publication, but [Porter] leads us in the right direction, and she teaches us all that we have to know to get to where we are,” Gifargis said.
Porter’s love of journalism stems from her high school years, where she wrote for her school newspaper. During her English teaching career, she was able to bring back the journalism program of Grayslake Central High School and start up the school newspaper, providing news and memories to the community, Porter explained. Her favorite part of journalism is the collaboration that happens between different members of The Etruscan to create a cohesive publication.
“So many different skills, like design, interview, writing, editing, and publication are taught in [journalism] courses, but all of those skills come together through collaboration and teamwork,” Porter said. “The different students in [Yearbook] classes are experts on all of those individual skills, but you need all of them to truly build one product in the end.”
There are a lot of changes to this year’s yearbook, like the new, more efficient technology being used for the design and production, Hughes said. The new editorial board, who designs and creates the yearbook each year, brings fresh ideas and perspectives, which hopefully end up with unique ways to cover stories and people at South, Porter explained. Porter’s ultimate goal for this year is for the staff to work hard toward creating a yearbook that represents South.
However, having a new adviser could also bring challenges, senior Seira Honda, people editor, said.
“The whole [yearbook production] system is changing [with] a new advisor, and things run differently,” Honda said. “It is definitely going to cause a little bit of a delay in our yearbook production.”
Change is beneficial to The Etruscan, and it is a great way of bringing out new ideas and feedback, Hughes explained. The new editorial board and adviser will bring a different feel and look to The Etruscan, Gifargis said.
“We have produced so many amazing [yearbooks] in the past, but I think having a new change [will] be very beneficial,” Gifargis said. “I am very confident about how this book will turn out.”
Despite the multitude of responsibilities Porter has as the adviser of The Etruscan, her favorite part of being in class is being able to see students’ hard work.
“It is pretty remarkable as an educator to watch [students] work so hard and put so much effort in building [the yearbook] for their school community,” Porter said. “I am really excited to see the end product, because I know that they are going to put together something remarkable and something that they and the community can be proud of.”
