making the book
IT'S ABOUT
“It’s About Time” is the eighth edition of the Tesserae yearbook at Corning-Painted Post High School in Corning, NY. Tesserae is a student-produced publication and is a public forum for student expression.
Volume 8’s theme development started in late spring 2021, soon after we returned to five days a week of in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, after spending most of the year on hybrid learning. The editors wanted to tell time-based stories of schedules and the clock the student body lives by, while simultaneously acknowledging all of the aspects of students’ lives that matter much more than the pressures of a ticking clock. Content is arranged in a concept, or “umbrella” format, in four sections: choice, drive, react, and opportunity. Each spread has a spinoff phrase, such as “it’s about the choice to put in the work,” or “it’s about the opportunity to make a difference,” with unified coverage on each spread based on that phrase or topic.
Vol. 8 features eight time-based interrupter spreads, as well, each highlighting a particular time of day and the various activities members of our community engaged in at those times.
Sports coverage is intermixed with other coverage throughout the book, and the spring supplement is tipped in at page 136-137. As with Vols. 6 and 7, the staff used ‘modes of coverage’ in spread designs, with a variety of flexible layouts and schemes that gave the staff much-needed flexibility. Examples include “mods palooza” (p. 30), “big honkin’ picture” (p. 48), “pics & caps” (p. 54), “profile & mods” (p. 10), and more.
The cover is a custom-designed four-color litho with matte lamination, raised UV gloss, and laser cut windows. The endsheets are Carrara white CL-1 stock, in a split order with three different neon gradient options. Vol. 8’s 312 pages are printed on 100# matte paper. Typefaces are Stratos Regular, STRATOS BOLD, and Bely Display, and photographs were taken using a suite of Canon DSLRs and Canon and Sigma lenses.
Tesserae Vol. 8 was sold for $55 in September, $65 from October to February, and $75 thereafter. The bound book was printed by Herff Jones in Kansas City, located at 6015 Travis Lane, Mission, KS, 66202, and the sports supplement was printed by the Corning-Painted Post School District print shop on 80# paper.
The co-EiCs and their 43-student staff submitted the 2021 Tesserae bound book on April 11, and the sports supplement in late May. The program’s digital content can be found at tesseraeybk.com, youtube.com/tesseraeybk and instagram.com/ tesseraeybk.
As determined by the student editors, it is Tesserae’s policy that school enrollment, grade, student name and related information derive from the CPPHS school database as reported on Feb. 1, 2022. Sports scores shall be accurate as of the day before final deadline for page submissions of the pages/sports in question.
off the WALL
Tesserae Vol. 7, “Be A/Part of the Whole,” earned an All-Columbian Gold Medalist critique from CSPA and an All- American 5/5 critique from NSPA. On March 18, it was awarded a Gold Crown from CSPA, and on April 9, it earned an NSPA Pacemaker. This is the fifth year in a row for the dual honors. Additionally, Vol. 7 earned First Place Best in Show at the Los Angeles National High School Journalism Convention. Our co-adviser, Michael Simons, was honored with three milestone professional awards in 2021: JEA’s Medal of Merit, NSPA’s Pioneer Award, and he was named JEA’s H.L. Hall National Yearbook Adviser of the Year. Addtionally, individual staff members’ work on Vol. 7 was recognized with the following awards:
CSPA GOLD CIRCLES - 2nd place, Merica Griffin, “An Open Dialogue;” Feature writing: Student Life
- Certificate of Merit, Carolyn Heckle, “Closing the Gap;” Feature writing: Student Life - Certificate of Merit, Alivia Jiang, Theme & Concept
- 1st place, Alivia Jiang, Cover Design - 1st place, Alivia Jiang, Endsheet Design - 3rd place, Staff, “Put to the Test;”
Infographics - Single
- 1st place, Alex Behn, Design Portfolio
EMPIRE STATE SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSN.
- Carolyn Heckle, “Closing the Gap,” Best Feature Story
- Graham Simons, “Closing the Gap,” Best Feature Photo
- Merica Griffin, “An Open Dialogue,”
Representation in Media Award
NSPA INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
- 2nd place, Alex Behn, “20 Things You Missed in 2020,” Best Design
- Honorable Mention, Alivia Jiang, “Be A/Part of the Whole,” Best Yearbook Theme Design
- Honorable Mention, Merica Griffin, “An Open Dialogue,” Social Justice Reporting
- 4th place, Staff, “Put to the Test,”
Covid-19 Feature Reporting - Honorable Mention, Staff, Social Media Reporting, @tesseraeybk on Instagram
- 4th place, Mykaela Reed, Social Media Promotion, @tesseraeybk on Instagram
AKA EIC
It is unbelievable to me that I am now in my final year as a member of Tesserae. To work in a team of unique, talented individuals is a privilege that I do not take for granted, and I will miss everyone with all my heart. To say I am thankful is an understatement. I would like to start by thanking my partners in crime - my co-EiCs. Kaitlin, getting to work with you for two years was a delight, and I admire your drive (and Shepardy wins) more than you know. Adah, I cannot wait to see you pull this all off again next year - you are so incredibly capable of achieving it all. You do need to find someone else to let you into Door 28 though :) Thank you to the OG yearbook guy & gals; Charlie, Mia, and Kelly, for always checking in and cheering me on from afar. Thank you to Gabe & Molly, my design geniuses who were the best people to work with, and who (alongside my Celsius’s) always reminded me to Liv, Laugh, and Love through it all. A special thank you goes to Mr. Melanson & Mrs. KGR for supporting me when times got tough - you both always knew the perfect thing to say, and I am so grateful. I would like to extend thanks to our administrative staff, especially executive principal Robin Sheehan and superintendent Michelle Caulfield, for supporting the program and every student on staff, offering us every opportunity possible to find our home at CPPHS. We wouldn’t have the coverage we have in this book without your diligence and care. PH, thank you for your coordination in the business realm and for never failing to be a bright spot in my day. Simons, thank you for always listening to my music requests and guiding me through the realms of InDesign these last 4 years. I wouldn’t want any other dressed-like-a-Sim coffee addict as my adviser. I never seem to have enough time (or space) to say all I want to say, but this represents a piece of all my love for this staff and this book. I will miss you Tesserae.
ALIVIA JIANG
Editor-in-Chief
For the past three years, Tesserae has given me an amazing yearbook family and storytelling opportunities that I’ll always remember. I’m so grateful to have been a part of the Tesserae community; this program will forever have a special place in my heart. I’d like to first thank my co-EiCs, Alivia and Adah. Alivia, I’m so glad that we’ve been able to work together as a team for two years; thank you for your design vision and dedication. Adah, you’ve continued to impress me with your capability and commitment; thank you for keeping us all on track with your incredibly organized sticky notes and spreadsheets. To all of the V8 editors, thank you for all the early mornings, late nights, and everything in between. I hope you know how much you are appreciated! A special shout-out to the copy queens Maxine and Ashti for always being willing to answer my copy questions and helping me to love what I do. To the whole V8 staff, from coverage to business to video, thank you for giving us your best and sticking with it until the end. With you all at the helm, I know that Tesserae is in very capable hands, and I’m so excited to see where you take the program in the years to come. To Mrs. PH and Mr. Simons, the best advisors we could ever ask for, thank you for everything. Mrs. PH, thank you for bringing your amazing leadership and organization to the business world and to our staff. Mr. Simons, thank you for all the moments these past years when you made me feel heard; thank you for being you. Finally, I would like to thank Ann Akers for her mentorship and all of the members of our yearbook circle who encourage and support us. There are no words to express how much I have grown to love Tesserae – the energy that fills the lab on Wednesday nights, the pure determination that gets us past deadlines, and the joy of creativity that makes it all worth it. I will always cherish the memories I have made here with all of you.
KAITLIN CHUNG
Editor-in-Chief
I feel like this year has flown by and it’s hard to believe we are trying to ship the book. I would like to give a huge thank you to my co-EiC’s. To both of you, thank you for going through this crazy, sometimes stressful, journey with me this year. Kaitlin, thank you for your constant positivity whenever I would get to the lab. Alivia, thank you so much for putting up with my constant ranting and random questions. I will forever miss hearing your stomping up the back stairs and saying ‘there’s Liv’. A special thanks to Ashti and Maxine for being willing to put up with my fast paced copy approval needs, and documenting the sticky notes on the window by the Tessmas tree. A huge shout out to my reference buddies in the back row, Carolyn and Laura, for listening to me on my walks around the lab and not getting frustrated when I couldn’t remember how to use panel builder. From the three editors-in-chief, a big thank you to our Herff Jones rep, Jim Mielty. We greatly appreciate your input and your willingness to fit in with our staff partway through the year. PH thanks for all the things this year. Simons, I’m not really sure where to start, thanks for a great year as EiC, I can’t wait to see what happens next year. Thanks for all the chats surrounding how much sleep I had gotten the night before and the many, many coffee runs. Thank you to the whole staff for deciphering the half-thought out notes on the clean docs and keeping the energy up even on the rough days and nights (especially the video boys in the back row). Thank you Tesserae Volume 8!
ADAH GRAY
Editor-in-Chief
