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Schools

Brookfield Central's Yearbook Wins Regional, National Awards

For the second consecutive year, the Kettle Moraine Press Association (KEMPA) recognized the Legend yearbook as one of the elite book publications in the region.

Not only was 's 2011 Legend named one of the top 10 yearbooks in Wisconsin and Illinois, it did so with a unique distinction:

It was the only top 10 yearbook produced by students in an extracurricular setting, rather than as part of a school course.

“I just had an awesome team this past year, a very creative group of kids,” said Thomas Juran, the Legend's yearbook advisor and teacher of applied technology. “They really put in the effort and produced a quality project.”

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At the fall Journalism Conference held at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in October, the Legend yearbook scored 906 points out of 1,000 points possible by the Kettle Moraine Press Association.

KEMPA, founded in the 1970s, is a student journalism press association that promotes student journalism through yearbooks and student newspapers. KEMPA critiques the students’ use of journalism, photography, publication style, theme and overall layout.

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Books scoring between 800 to 899 points are awarded first place. With the Legend scoring above the first place range with 906 points, the yearbook received an All KEMPA rating, which was awarded to 10 high school yearbooks in the region.

Besides the All KEMPA rating, the Legend received the Gallery of Excellence award from the yearbook’s publishing company, Walsworth Publishing Company, which prints over 1,000 yearbooks across the nation.

Parts of the top publications awarded are featured in an educational sourcebook that is distributed to schools across the country.

“Gallery books demonstrate true mastery of a yearbook’s purpose — to provide thorough coverage of the school year with interesting stories that highlight all types of students using well written copy, stunning photography and trendy design” company president Don Walsworth said in a press release.

Among the 2011 Legend staff were Meredith Dykehouse (editor-in chief), and Becky Gwinn, Christian Dennik, Joel Ericsen and Emily Olson (associate editors).

Juran has been the Legend’s advisor for 10 years and is amazed how dedicated the students are to accomplishing their mission.

“The staff always tries to produce the best quality product that captures the year as an historical document that everyone will cherish in the future,” Juran said.

This year, 65 students are on the yearbook staff and Juran said they have been doing a “fantastic job” and are getting ready to produce another award winning yearbook.

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