ABOVE: Fairmont High School (FHS) yearbook Photography Editor Elizabeth Hart and General Editor Kendra Blomster view photographs on the computer during yearbook class on Monday morning at the school. Beside them sits the Jostens Gold-Tier National Yearbook Program of Excellence award, which the yearbook team received in December for work on its 2024-2025 yearbook.

FAIRMONT — It’s a feat that’s one for the books. The Fairmont High School (FHS) yearbook team has claimed the Gold-Tier National Yearbook Program of Excellence award by memorabilia company, Jostens. With this award, the student-run team is acknowledged for the successes of the 2024-2025 yearbook, including meeting various deadlines, reporting growth in sales and attention to inclusive student coverage.

“I feel very honored to get the reward,” Photography Editor Elizabeth Hart said.

“I was really proud,” added General Editor Kendra Blomster.

To contribute to the annual book, senior high students enrolled in the elective yearbook class gravitate to their individual roles, including in-class and out-of-class documentation and formatting of school events, extracurriculars, athletics, achievements, student and staff portraits, graduating class coverage and details that reflect on the school and school year.

Yearbook Advisor and Art Teacher Sherry Carlmark explained that their goal is to see a student’s face repeated in the yearbook at least three times. She shared that students additionally develop an abundance of skills, including professionalism, photography, graphic design and writing, all while in the class.

“I’m proud of the students,” Carlmark said. “This is a student-run publication, and they took the wheel. They ran with it, did what was needed to be done and I was just proud of the work that they did.”

The Jostens Program of Excellence, for years, has been shining a light on high school yearbooks that meet its contest criterion. The Gold-Tier is awarded to only two schools in Minnesota. Simultaneously, this is the first award of its kind that Fairmont High School has earned. The team officially accepted it in December from the school’s Jostens representative.

The yearbook team views this award as a testament to the hard work and tenacity displayed by the students that created the 2024-2025 yearbook. From the editors, designers, photographers, the marketing team and more, Hart, Blomster and Carlmark agreed that all who contributed played a significant role in the yearbook’s success.

“It’s great. I know a lot of people put in time outside of school, and I think that really is what made it stand out, is that we’re all really committed to it,” Blomster commented.

“We treated it like it was our actual job,” Hart added. “We definitely work as a team, but I think we work more like a family when we’re doing this.”

Hart and Blomster explained that the yearbook team is driven by and dedicated to bringing a significant piece of school memorabilia to FHS.

“This is going to be with us forever. We want something good that we can look back and show our kids. We’re so proud that we made this, and we contributed to the school, making it our own, making it different. I know I buy a yearbook every year because I want to see my growth, my own personal growth, and I want to look back at the memories that I’ve had with my classmates,” Hart shared.

“I’m just so proud of the students and their creativity, their effort and their want to make a good book for the student body,” Carlmark said.

Since the production of the winning yearbook, the yearbook class size has grown from 12 to 22 students, and more roles have been fulfilled. As the 2025-2026 school year continues, the yearbook team has its sights set on bringing another detailed, memorable yearbook to FHS.