Rogers Yearbook Wins Prestigious Award

When you think of a nationally award winning high school, the name John R. Rogers doesn’t exactly come first to mind, but the Pirates have proven to be just that.

The Rogers yearbook staff recently was awarded the prestigious first-place Gold Crown Award with three marks of distinction by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. The award is the staff’s second national award for their 1995 yearbook, The Treasure Chest.

The Gold Crown is presented to the highest rated publication for the academic year. About 500 high schools submitted their yearbooks to be evaluated; in the end, only 19 were superior enough to bring the award home.

The Treasure Chest is the first yearbook in the state of Washington to receive this award and, this year, it was the only book awarded in the Pacific Northwest.

Around 25 students made up last year’s staff, but the hours that were put into it by all were uncountable. Due to the devotion of the yearbook advisor, Peter Perkins, students were able to work in the lab whenever they needed to.

“The class period wasn’t enough,” said staff member Matt Squires. The yearbook staff received a Columbia Silver Award in 1994, so the next step was the Gold.

“Perkins was after the Gold Crown in the beginning and he got us to go after it,” recalls staff member Mike McLaughlin, this year’s Treasure Chest editor. Throughout the year, the possibility of earning the Gold became attainable because of the staff’s effort to make the yearbook the best yet.