The staff of Flashback received notification the 2010-11 yearbook, Breathe, is a finalist in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Crown Awards Program. CSPA judged 1,351 newspapers, magazines and yearbooks published during the 2010-11 school year. Entries ranged from middle school to college participants and were judged at Columbia University in New York on Dec. 17 and 18. Flashback is one of the 65 yearbook publications up for the award.
The staff, which considers the class to be co-curricular, uses “late nights” along with multiple edits to create the book, said yearbook design editor Rena Rong, who was also on last year’s staff.
“The quality of our yearbooks has grown exponentially better since two or three years ago,” she said. “We’re really pleased with the direction we’re headed.”
Finalists will be presented with either a Gold or Silver Crown Award during CSPA’s 88th Annual Convention, held from March 14-16, 2012 at Columbia University.  The Breathe-themed yearbook earned another first for RBHS earlier this year: an All-American ranking from National Scholastic Press Association.
“We’re trying to top it each year and raise the bar,” Rong said. “We’ve definitely put ourselves to a higher standard.”
By Daphne Yu