Bellefonte Area High School yearbook program honored with national award

Bellefonte Area High School’s yearbook program, often known as LaBelle, was awarded through Jostens’ Yearbook Program of Excellence at the Gold level. Staff adviser Andrew Weigold said the eight-student yearbook team worked “hard to create a unique and inclusive book, and I am so proud of them and this accomplishment.”

“Each year our staff embarks on a journey to create a book that encompasses many events throughout the year, as well as showcase our school spirit on each page,” Weigold said. “Our staff uses new techniques in order to finish the yearbook on time and also gets to add their own creative spin on their pages. We wanted to add history to this year’s book, as well as keep a theme-based book with more journalism in it than years past.”

Students were Kaitlyn Berkey, Kate Harman, Edward Henry, Madison Melius, Hailey Miller, Kierra Narehood, Haylie Rimmey and Lauren Skrzycki.

Calling it a “dynamic and engaging year,” Jostens added that the award-winning yearbook program was led by Berkey, a student editor and member from the Class of 2021.

Jostens’ National Yearbook Program of Excellence Awards are presented twice a year, in spring and in fall based on the yearbook’s arrival date at the school.The award was presented to the Bellefonte Area High School yearbook program for achieving defined criteria in the following categories:

-Creating an inclusive yearbook
-Generating school engagement
-Successfully managing the yearbook creation process