History

SCHOLA History

ORIGINS & NEW YEARBOOK

Gorham High's annual yearbook, the SCHOLA, actually began back in 1912 with the creation of the first yearbook club, run by the junior class. The first yearbooks, then named SCHOLIA (Latin word for "short note") consisted of a small paper book with write-ups and personals, literary work, jokes, advertising, and other written work. There was less focus on the senior class like current yearbooks have, and no senior pictures. At the time, it was more in the style of a school newspaper rather than a full review of the school year, though it did have those elements as well. The early yearbooks did not have many photos.

The first "SCHOLIA" was published in the spring of 1913. The junior class continued to publish the yearbook until 1917, when publication stopped. Each yearbook sold for 5 to 10 cents each. There is unfortunately not much additional information on the early years of the GHS annual. 

Gorham High School, unlike many other high schools in the area, went without a yearbook for over two decades. In the fall of 1938, publication on another annual would begin. Gorham High School had just purchased a mimeograph machine. Besides its use for academic purposes, it was also used to publish the school's newspaper, Escalator. The sales of the school paper allowed the school to pay off the balance owed on the mimeograph machine. 

The Class of 1939 decided to begin production on a new annual because of the new machine. The newly formed yearbook committee looked at the four issues of SCHOLIA from 22 years earlier, and paid homage to it by naming the new annual SCHOLA, which is also a Latin word; this time meaning "school."

In the spring of 1939, Gorham High School published its first yearbook since 1917. Little did those yearbook editors of 1939 realize, they would be starting an annual tradition that has continued for 87 years. 

PUBLICATION & EDITING

The senior class would continue to be in charge of the yearbook every year. The yearbook committee was at one point an exclusive organization. It seems, based on yearbook staff lists, that freshmen and sophomores at one point were not permitted to be on the yearbook staff. Juniors were allowed as "SCHOLA Apprentices," assisting the current senior class in editing the yearbook, and thus having the experience for their own senior yearbook the following year. 

The yearbook was split into separate groups at one time. The Editorial Staff was one group. It consisted of the editor(s)-in-chief, assistant editor(s), section editors, layout designers, typists, and designers. The second group was the Business Staff, consisting of the business manager, and the finance/advertising assistants. The third group was known as the Ad Day Staff. On one day in October, students from this group would go around businesses in Gorham trying to sell business advertisements for the SCHOLA, to help finance the publication. All three groups were later combined into one sole Yearbook Committee, and the business aspects are usually handled now by the faculty advisor and representative from the yearbook company, Jostens. 

Eventually all students were able to join the yearbook committee.

EDITORS

The editor-in-chief was usually a senior chosen by the other members of the yearbook staff. For many years, there were co-editors, one boy and one girl, sharing the role of editor-in-chief. Each book is different; meaning it may have one editor or a couple of co-editors. Today's co-editors are no longer defined by a boy/girl arrangement. 

Additionally, as the committee became open to all students, the editor's position was occasionally given to an underclassman, and they would remain editor for two, sometimes three years. This is a rarity, however, as it is still seen as the norm to give the editor's role to a senior.

EVOLUTION OF SCHOLA

The first SCHOLAs were paperback and mimeographed. Starting in 1945, they were professionally printed and typewritten. The 1946 SCHOLA was the first to be hardcover, and with the exception of 1947, all succeeding yearbooks were hardcover. 

The SCHOLA yearbooks have occasionally had covers created by students, and other years from templates provided by Jostens or the yearbook company of that time. It was standard and still is to use a template and to customize it for the specific school. Interestingly, the same cover was used for the years 2005-2009; then a new cover was used for both 2010 and 2011; the only differences being the year being changed. The 2004 cover had a different font on the front, but was virtually identical to the 2005-2009 yearbooks. Since 2012 the book has had a different cover each year. 2025's cover is a modern version of the 2005-2009 yearbook cover, though with slightly different elements. 

CONTENTS

The older yearbooks mainly consisted of literary work, student opinions, and write-ups of sports and events. That has evolved into many different areas. 

For clubs and athletics, the older yearbooks had few pictures, instead giving a detailed write-up of the season, the scores, and highlighted the best players. The write-ups were eventually mostly removed to account for more photos from the activity or club. 

In the 1970s, the books took on a more expressive approach, with lots of photos, different and unique layouts, and less text. The trend reverted back to a traditional yearbook in the late 70s-early 80s, and the trend continues today.

There is a faculty section in each yearbook, barring the very early ones, and this used to include their photo, name, education, classes taught, and extracurricular activities advised. Today, it simply includes their name and picture, with positions being absent (with the exception of 2019; 2020; and 2022 in recent years including them).