Students lined up on May 12 at 2:05 p.m. on a rainy spring day ready to cherish memories with peers and munch on snow cones and snacks in the cafeteria. The yearbook staff hosted a memorable signing party, distributed yearbooks and ended the school year with a bang.

The signing party was a large get-together of all the students and staff. There was Paciugo Gelato, Kona Ice, and freshman concessions for snacks. Multiple lawn games were also set up, but since it was raining everything got moved to the cafeteria and plans were adjusted accordingly.

The yearbook staff contacted local businesses for pen donations. Not only did this help provide every student with a pen to sign yearbooks, but it also helped the businesses with advertisement and notice. This really was an event that was supposed to benefit everyone.

Yearbook adviser Kjersten Johnson worked hard to make this the best party yet and give back to the students. “We wanted to generate more hype and give back to the students,” Johnson said.

Johnson believed that signing parties were previously done, but they certainly haven’t been done at WHS since COVID. The distribution of yearbooks throughout the day for the past couple of years had been known to be chaotic and “leave students checked out for the rest of the school year — and definitely for the rest of the day,” Johnson said.

This year’s yearbook theme was “Show Your True Colors.” The yearbook showcased students’ artistic identity through articles such as “Hair to Dye for” about hair dye and styles, “Thinking in Color” about students’ tattoos and “A Fresh Coat of Paint” about seniors painting parking spots.

The yearbook staff is a tight-knit group that has developed their skills, formed tighter bonds and made this year’s yearbook one of the most memorable. They decided to shine light not only on teams but on individual students as well.

“Show Your True Colors” was focused on finding individual students who really stood out with personal achievements, hobbies or characteristics. This allowed students to feel more connected and engaged with the school, each other and memories that are displayed throughout the yearbook.

Not only did the yearbook focus on individual stories more in short stories, but it also allowed students to get all the spotlight from a new yearbook set-up: on division pages, the yearbook staff wrote longer, more formal articles paired with intriguing, stylized photoshoots.

Editor-in-chief Holland Luedtke was able to watch the yearbook form firsthand and played a key role in the making of it. “I love just putting the whole thing together. And being able to put all these memories together that everyone is looking forward to looking at the end of the year is great,” Luedtke said.

Students took notice of all of the yearbook staff’s efforts this year and couldn’t be more grateful for it. Brooklyn Ward (09) learned more about her peers and their interests from the yearbook because of the individual-based articles. “It is cool; you can learn about people you normally aren’t that close to at school,” Ward said.

With hard work and dedication, the yearbook staff showed the school’s true colors with the yearbook and the signing party — and hopefully this tradition is here to stay.