Members of the Tallulah Falls School yearbook staff show off their award-winning publication. Shown, from left, are junior Collin Kelly of Demorest, sophomore Nafis Rahman of Mt. Airy, Evette Corwin of Baldwin, Madi Perdue of Clayton, Flannery Hogan of Hartwell, junior Camden Hughes of Demorest, senior Sophie Alexander of Sautee Nacoochee, sophomore Ava Wehrstein of Demorest, adviser Shelby Day and junior Chaz Mullis of Sautee Nacoochee. (TFS)
By Chaz Mullis | TFS junior
Tallulah Falls’ yearbook staff, Legend, received grand recognition from the Georgia Scholastic Press Association for their 2018-19 book, “All Who Wander.”
The book received the ranking of Superior, the highest award a yearbook can achieve in the state of Georgia.
A rating of Superior indicates the staff clearly demonstrated excellence in all areas of scholastic journalism in the yearbook.
Each yearbook is critiqued in four areas: concept and organization, coverage, copy and, photography and design. Judges rate each category on a 1-5 scale, with 1 indicating “does not meet criteria” and 5 indicating “meets criteria on an exceptional level.”
Scores for the 141 criteria are totaled for an overall yearbook score.
Adviser Shelby Day led the project with editor Sophie Alexander of Sautee Nacoochee, the sole returning staff member from the previous school year. Nine other members contributed to the book, including current editors Camden Hughes of Demorest, Collin Kelly of Demorest and Chaz Mullis of Sautee Nacoochee.
According to Day, an award-winning book created by such a new staff is a phenomenal feat. “Our theme for this book came together quickly. The staff wanted an outdoor theme that tied in with our unique geographic location and also focused on the outdoor recreation and education movement sweeping our area. I couldn’t be more proud of the teamwork of the staff and the beautiful book they created,” Day said.
Sophomore Flannery Hogan of Hartwell was a member of the 2018-19 staff. “I think last year’s yearbook was such a success because of the amount of effort and teamwork put into it,” Hogan said. “The class worked well together; people’s specialties [showed] through and their weaknesses were supported. Everyone made a point to try and make their spreads as good as they could possibly be, and that really brought it all together in the end.”
Alexander said she is proud of the 2018-19 staff and the finished product. “I believe that this yearbook was successful because of the diligent work of our amazing staff. Everyone devoted so much time and energy to making this book exceptional, and I think that it showed in our final product,” Alexander said. “We also heavily focused on developing our theme and keeping it consistent throughout the book, and this resulted in a yearbook that strongly connected to our school’s demographics and purpose.”
The Legend staff will be presented with a plaque this spring at the University of Georgia.
