When teams win championships, the players are always congratulated first. It’s no surprise, as they put in the work, that it pays off. However, some fail to credit the work behind the scenes: the coaching. Fans see Michael Jordan, but not Phil Jackson; Tom Brady, yet not Bill Belichick. Unfortunately, this isn’t an average sports story. To secure his legacy, the 2021 yearbook that Mr.Fagen and his team produced was recognized as one of the best yearbooks out of those created with Herff Jones last year. 

   Every year, Herff Jones, the company that works with schools for the production of yearbooks and junior rings, creates what looks like ten yearbooks on top of each other. They call it their portfolio, where Herff Jones showcases some of the best yearbooks that were made with their help. From the best covers to overall design, being included in this annual publication is a prestigious honor. 

   Herff Jones just released the newest portfolio for yearbooks of last year and our very own Prowler yearbook made its return. Fagen and his squad created a book that not only was in the top ten percent of yearbooks made with Herff Jones, but was also featured in the Portfolio’s “Innovations” section. Their feature in this section was specifically for the Prowlers’ utilization of thermo UV on their cover, as well as a gradient of maroon that still clearly shows the theme of the yearbook.

   Mr.Fagen emphasized how especially proud he was of this staff and what they faced in the process of creating this book. “I think what separates them from other years was what they had to go through,” he said, “Because of the pandemic, nothing was going on so they had to work even harder to produce a high quality 300-page yearbook.” Being the overseer of what the class had to go through in order to get the book finished, Mr.Fagen knows that this recognition was more than deserved. 

   With this school year being the closest to the norm that it has ever been since the pandemic, it has become much easier for the Prowler yearbook staff to gather the content they need. Current Co-Editor-In-Chief Isabella Duran, and junior, furthered Mr.Fagen’s point and discussed how different it feels now compared to years before. “We used to rely only on recycled photos from other people,” she said, “The class dynamic from pandemic year to last year changed so much.” Getting through the hardships of those years brought Isa and her staff closer together, proving success through the awards won, as well as their own satisfaction with the book.

   Now that the Prowler staff has proved they can work well under unfortunate circumstances, they look to do better once more on their road to a back-to-back award winning yearbook. It’s going to take more than masks to stop this team.