Major changes to “The Guardian Yearbook” are in store for the publication’s second volume, including switching from a fall delivery to a spring delivery, deadlines and, of course, senior-specific content.
The 2025 yearbook should be in the hands of students before their last day of school in May, and while the yearbooks will arrive before the end of the school year, the yearbook staff has a plan in place to still cover spring sports and events like Prom and graduation.
“All of the spring stuff from sports to graduation will be in what is called a spring supplement,” journalism adviser Ranae Duncan said. “It kind of looks like a magazine in a way, but it has a strip of adhesive on the back, like a sticker, that you rip off and literally insert into the back of the book, making it a permanent addition to the book.”
Because the supplements take about three weeks for the publishing company, Walsworth Yearbooks, to make and ship, supplements will not be available until mid-June. Once they come in, ninth through eleventh-grade students will be notified as to when they can pick them up. As of right now, the yearbook staff plans to mail seniors’ supplements to their address on file with the school district.
“There is a substantial cost to mailing supplements out individually, so that’s why only seniors are being considered for this right now,” Duncan said.
To order the book, students and parents can go to yearbookforever.com, search Gretna East High School, not Gretna High, and click “Buy a yearbook” and follow the prompts.
“It’s important to search up Gretna East on the website because we definitely want everyone to receive the right book,” yearbook Co-Editor-in-Chief Laci Smith said. “This year, we had lots of people order Gretna High School’s book instead of Gretna East’s; it was a little bit painful to see.”
With the book being distributed in May, it will provide an opportunity for a new tradition for Griffins.
“We wanted to switch from a fall to spring book to make distribution more convenient and easier, but also we wanted to give the chance to sign your friends’ yearbooks,” yearbook Co-Editor-in-Chief Natalie Hayhurst said.
The Guardian staff hopes to host an after-school distribution and signing party for students, but that has not been approved or planned yet. Confirmation regarding details of distribution will come later in second semester.
From now until the end of January, books will be available to pre-order; however, the lowest price the book will be offered at, $65, will only be offered until Oct. 31. After that they will increase to $70 until Jan. 1, and then increase to $75 until Jan. 31, the final pre-order deadline when a final book count is due to Walsworth.
“It’s important to order by that Jan. 31 deadline because that’s the only way to guarantee you’ll get a book at the end of the year,” Duncan said. “Sometimes we receive ‘run-off’ copies of the book from Walsworth that we can sell once the books come in, but that is not a guarantee. Those books, if we get any, will be sold for $80 cash only on a first-come-first-serve basis, but that is a huge risk.”
Another deadline that is coming up in a couple of weeks is for students who wish to shorten their legal name to their abbreviated name; for example, if their name is Johnathan, but they want to go by John. To do this, students will need to print and complete the GEM Name Abbreviation Form and return it to Mrs. Duncan in room 210, or to her mailbox in the main office before Oct. 15. A parent or guardian must sign off on the form before it will be accepted.
Knowing that this is an option is something junior Adelaide Horst is glad for.
“When I see my name as Adelaide in the yearbook, it just is weird, because that’s not what I go by, and I would rather it be Addie, so then everyone would know who I am,” Horst said.
For seniors, there are additional deadlines to put on the calendar. Senior yearbook photos need to be submitted by Oct. 31, and senior ads, which provide a way for friends and family members to leave personal messages or share fun memories that become a tribute that lasts forever, are due by Dec. 2.
Both senior photos and senior ads have specific requirements that can be hard to keep track of, however, the yearbook staff has put together this one-page document with links to all of the pertinent information on it. 
With their first book and a second place finish for yearbook theme development at the 2024 Class B NSAA State Journalism Championships under their belts, the editors-in-chief are currently working with the rest of their staff to create a 2025 yearbook that will be a stark contrast to the first volume.
“It’s going to be fun and bright and it is going to tell the story of our school year in a creative way that you probably haven’t seen before,” Hayhurst said.
Besides having a completely different look and feel, the group is also setting goals to impress again.
“We’re just going to keep pushing forward and challenge ourselves to raise the bar and give the community another great book that they’re proud of,” Duncan said.
