Westmont Magazine Book is Best in Show

Westmont Yearbook Wins Top Award

The Citadel, Westmont’s yearbook, won the Associated Collegiate Press Best in Show award at the National College Media Convention in October. The 2005-2006 volume bested yearbooks from 15 other colleges and universities in the under-300-pages category. The Citadel also took top honors in 2004 for the “Family” yearbook.

Co-Editors Anna Dreyer ’07 and Gloria Tebelman ’07 came up with the theme, “You Are Here,” to show students how they are connected to the world outside Westmont. “We wanted them to see how different we all are but also to realize how we have all ended up at Westmont,” Gloria says.

“We included a map of the world that pinpoints everyone’s hometown. A lot come from California, but there are students from all parts of the globe, and that’s something to know and celebrate.”

Gloria and Anna set a lofty goal of featuring every student. “We printed out a list of everyone,” Anna says. “Whenever someone put a quote or picture on a page, they had to cross the name off. It’s frustrating at times, but it’s our job.”

Gloria has worked on yearbooks at Westmont and other schools for a decade. Her interest in art and design has since led her to New York City and a job at a relationship marketing agency. “Working on the Citadel will help me with my future career,” she says. “Editors do everything: hire staff, make budgets, develop themes, manage people, advertise, write copy, take photographs, run a working office, deal with printers, design pages, handle deadline disasters; the list goes on and on.”

Anna also worked on the yearbook at her Montana high school. She says the insight into publishing and editing will help her pursue a career in those fields.

Despite the hard work and long hours, Gloria and Anna find the results incredibly satisfying. “Every year I reach a point where I want to quit,” Gloria says. “I swear I’ll never do it again, but by the end of the year, I come back around and remember that I love it. I love seeing a staff learn so much about book-making and about themselves over the course of a year. I love the sense of community that is accomplished among the staff — and among the school — through a 300-page book.”