El Paso’s Eastwood High gets creative with school yearbook during the pandemic

El Paso, Texas -- High school yearbooks are normally filled with photos from school events held throughout the year, but for the class of 2021 many of those milestone moments didn't happen due to the pandemic creating a challenge for high school yearbook students.

"Just having to do everything online and having to try and teach kids to do stuff has been just really challenging," said Michelle Rivera, yearbook advisor for Eastwood High School.

Rivera's student's had to think outside the box when it came to capturing memories for this year's yearbook.

"What we've had to do was really rely on our clubs and our sponsors to really post stuff on social media so that we could grab from that to include in the yearbook," said Rivera.

Although the school didn't have a homecoming dance, they still had a homecoming court.

"And so I did send the homecoming court to our yearbook photographer to have their photos taken, so that was one little thing we could do for them to make them feel special," said Rivera.

Rivera and her students attempted to come up with various ideas when it came to capturing those traditional yearbook head-shots. Ideas included drive-by photos and selfies, but due to very low participation, last year's school photos were used for underclassmen and seniors were able to make appointments for senior photos with the school's photographer.

"My seniors had a really rough time," said Rivera. "They're missing out on their senior year, let's be honest."

Although the school year wasn't what most seniors hoped it would be, Rivera and her student's are still excited to be giving the class of 2021 a little piece of history.

"It's important for us to be able to record history," said Rivera. "For us to be able to look back and see kinda the trials and tribulations and as we get older it becomes even more important because we get to share that with our own kids."

Although yearbook sales for Eastwood High School are nowhere near where they usually are, Rivera is hopeful that more students will purchase yearbooks in the coming months.