A group of Lyons Township High School students sat in a big circle outside the Vaughan fieldhouse in La Grange on a recent Monday evening. It was not a protest or demonstration. The students were in the 2020 yearbook class and were reviewing their handiwork before it was distributed to the rest of the student body.
Normally, the yearbooks, called Tabulae, are distributed at school at the end of May. But the printing company was shut down due to the pandemic, so though a digital version was posted online earlier, the students did not see or hold the finished product until July 27, co-editor Sofia Menna said.
Their work this spring was abruptly interrupted when concerns about the coronavirus caused schools to close in mid-March.
The 460-page yearbook, with the theme, “Well Rounded,” was already designed and many pages had been sent to the publisher, when they realized some changes were necessary.
They added a section about the pandemic, for starters.
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“We had photographers go to downtown La Grange and get whatever they could showing examples,” such as closed businesses or empty shelves in grocery store aisles, Menna said.
“We had pictures of taped off parks,” said co-editor Kerry Conneely, a 2020 graduate like Menna.
The yearbook staff also had photographers ready in classrooms to capture students’ reactions, when the announcement was made that in person classes would be cancelled until at least April 6.
Later, they asked students to send photos of themselves doing schoolwork at home.
Filling the pages devoted to spring sports was a challenge, since sports, too, were cancelled when the schools closed.
Normally, they would have pages filled with coverage of games, including play-offs.
Not only were the games cancelled, but so were the official practices, when Gov. J.B. Pritzker closed schools across the state. However, the student captains of various teams, such as girls soccer and boys and girls lacrosse, continued to hold and lead practices for the students, Menna said.
“We got photographs from the captains’ practices,” she said.
In hindsight, they are grateful so much of the school year had passed normally.
The yearbook staff for the 2020/21 school year may face a greater challenge, depending on how much of school is conducted remotely, Conneely said.
Students who graduated were able to pick up their copy of the Tabulae in front of the North Campus gyms July 28 or July 29.
Other students will receive theirs during book pick-up days, which begin Aug. 4.