Every year the Varsity Yearbook association creates the Portfolio–a compilation of the best design and photo submissions the publishing company receives. The Horizon’s “Blue and Bold” yearbook was featured in the latest edition for its cover image, as well as 6 design spreads. This achievement places Encinal High School among only 686 pages highlighted, selected 6+ times from more than 900 yearbooks entered.
The Encinal Yearbook is created by the Horizon Publications class. This course includes around 30+ students each year who take on roles like Editor-In-Chief, Section-Editor, Designer, and Photographer, to lead the publication to success.
Designer Ujin Bolortoli felt that the pages receiving recognition in the Portfolio were high quality in both topic content and photography.
“There were also a lot of different stories going on, and different types of photos on the page… which made it more intriguing,” she said.
Schools which earn a spot in the Portfolio are in the top 10 percent of publications, requiring an innovative approach to excel.
Horizon Photographer Ira Tongohan explained what stood out about her spread compared to other publications, “The fact that it was umbrella coverage, we were able to cover so many things under one title, ‘Go big or go home’. Covering the hackathon and then going over Model UN, I thought was a really good idea.” Bolortoli shared that this similar range made her winning design unique as well. “I’m proud of how we incorporated a lot of stuff. It was ‘On the Road’, since we didn’t have a home field. We tried to incorporate different school sports, and then we also did a little [ section ] about people who play sports outside of school, and travel for that. And then another [ section ] about a Model UN trip to D.C.,” she said.
Notably, this year marked the first that the Horizon has been recognized seven times in one Portfolio.
After 3 years as a Horizon staff member, Tongohan expressed satisfaction with the national recognition, “I’m proud of having myself captured in the Portfolio. I think I did a really good job with my spread partners.” She also shared hope for further recognition for Encinal’s yearbook with the 2025-2026 edition, “I feel like we’re a lot more diverse, we continue to be diverse as we grow the yearbook. And we only add more and more skilled people throughout the years. So I really do think we have potential in getting pages featured again.”
Encinal Senior and co-Editor-in-Chief, Sophia Fabia, has been a member of the Horizon team for 3 years, and previously held the role of co-Design Editor working on the “On the Road” page with Bolortoli.
She echoes Tongohan’s sentiment, reflecting on the yearbook’s quality, “I think we have a pretty strong yearbook this year. Together with the design, I think our theme also relates to a lot of people, so I think a lot of students will enjoy seeing it this year.” Fabia added, “I’m hoping we’ll get as many awards as last year since we have a lot of new design elements never before seen in our past yearbooks.”
When asked what to expect this year, Fabia hints that the yearbook will be focusing on unique student connections.
The Encinal community should look out for the yearbook release in late-May.
