In the past few years, several of the Astron Yearbooks at West High have won awards. One of these awards is the Premier Print Award. The PRINTING United Alliance Premier Print Awards competition is the industry’s most prestigious award of recognition, honoring the very best in print communications. The awards recognize excellence in quality, creativity, and innovation.
The Astron Yearbooks of 2019, 2020, and 2021 at West High have won a Certificate of Merit in the School Yearbooks category.
Furthermore, the 2019-2020 Astron Yearbook won a Certificate of Achievement. This award represented fewer than three percent of the publications Balfour produced that year. Jackie Cutshaw, yearbook advisor, publicized, “For the past couple of years, our yearbook has been chosen by Balfour, our publishing company, to be a national sample. This means our book was used at yearbook training workshops across the country and by Balfour representatives in their selling efforts. This alone was a huge honor.”
The 2021 Astron Yearbook received an overall superior rating for the Tennessee High School Press Association (THSPA) with the theme, “United As One.” In sections, The Astron Yearbook was evaluated with an All-Tennessee rating for Coverage, Excellent for Writing and Editing, Superior in both Design and Graphics and Photography/Illustrations, and All-Tennessee for Reader Services.
The 2021 Astron Yearbook also won first place with special merit in the American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA). The yearbook scored over 950 points and was an outstanding overall example of a scholastic publication in format, content, and presentation according to the opinion of the reviewer. Cutshaw also shared, “This was the first year that I submitted our yearbook to be evaluated by any national review system. We were so excited to learn about the awards we received from the Tennessee High School Press Association and the American Scholastic Press Association for last year's yearbook, "United as One." The yearbook had a cohesive theme, lots of bright colors, which we had never tried before, and fun pages filled with student memories. I knew we had an exceptional yearbook. My staff worked very hard and I wanted them to be recognized for their work. We also wanted feedback on what we need to do to make our book even better in the future. Since yearbooks are always evaluated from the previous year, we look forward to seeing what this year's book brings us.”
Congratulations to the Astron yearbook staff and Cutshaw for all of their hard work and dedication to publishing award-winning yearbooks.
2021 staff members:
Dallas Lindsey
Brooklyn Chance
Lauren Gray
Cassidy King
Hailey King
Hallie Lane
Adison Manuel
Allie McKenna
Kailee Winstead
Molly Wright
2022 staff members:
Hallie Lane
Molly Wright
Allie McKenna
Adison Manuel
Lauren Gray
Chloe Seal
Raylie Lykens
Bella Swanson
Lilly Strum