For the second year in a row, the Pilot Point Middle School yearbook staff and sponsor succeeded in earning gold for the work they did in the 2023-24 school year.
Only one other school, a fellow middle school, had a repeat gold performance at three in a row, helping adviser Andrea Perez and her students keep their goals aiming higher.
'It's important to have accountability,' she said. 'Having deadlines and meeting deadlines and knowing that we have to get things done when they need to be done, they're going to carry that forever. Having them have deadlines in something they're enjoying and then that we're being successful in I think is a huge lifelong lesson for them.'
Perez not only teaches the students how to set and achieve goals.
She also expects excellence from the beginning when the students apply to be in the program, and Perez has worked to grow the tools the students can use.
'We've now been able to go to photo workshops,' Perez said. 'We've been able to buy new cameras. We've been able to get new software and new computers to help make the yearbook even better.'
Jostens representative Blake Ahrens again shared the standards schools like PPMS must meet to win gold.
That includes having at least three pictures of half of the student body, increasing sales by 2% over the previous year or selling to over 70% of the students in the school, and meeting every deadline.
'Across the nation, there were 670 schools that won gold, like last year,' he said. 'And you think, that's schools all across the U.S. Of those 670, only 39 schools in Texas—the entire state of Texas— got gold. And then, of those, 17 of our area ... got gold. Of those 17, only three were middle schools, Pilot Point Middle School being one of them, and they were only one of two who have now won backto- back years.'
Some of the ninth graders who contributed to the golden crew came back to PPMS to celebrate their achievement with a photo.
Landry Thetford said she learned the value of creativity through the work she did for Perez for two years straight.
'It's so special because not a lot of people can make gold,' she said.
She added that she's grateful for her former adviser and that she hopes the program continues to be successful year after year.
Allyson Kirby credited Perez with helping her learn how to be organized, particularly in relation to completing their work on time and is proud of the results of their work.
'It shows how dedicated I was to my school,' she said.
PPMS Principal Taylor Penn shared his pride in the work the yearbook program produces year after year under Perez' leadership.
'It's huge for our kids,' Penn said. 'They put in the hard work daily. And ... it's big for Mrs. Perez trying to build a program that's successful here.'
The stats already look good for the current school year.
'We are well on our way to a three-peat,' Ahrens said. 'She is
doing amazing.'
