Bonsall HS yearbook receives first-place ribbon at fair

The Legionnaire is the yearbook for Bonsall High School, and the judges of the San Diego County Fair's Student Showcase exhibit gave a first-place ribbon to the 2015-16 edition of the Legionnaire.

"That's exciting," said Bonsall High School principal Lee Fleming. "We're super proud."

The fair's student showcase does not have head-to-head judging other than for Best of Division or Best of Show. A point system determines whether individual entries receive first, second, or third place. First-place ribbons eluded several of Bonsall's neighbors – the Fallbrook High School and High Tech High North County yearbooks were awarded second-place ribbons while Escondido High School and Oceanside High School had yearbooks which were given third-place scores.

Bonsall High School had a yearbook last year, which was the high school's first year of existence.

"We didn't have a class," said Fleming. "The teacher kind of had to do a lot of extra work to make that happen."

Juanita Abarca, who also teaches Spanish at Bonsall High School, was last year's Legionnaire advisor. Bonsall High School had a yearbook class for 2015-16 which was taught by Karina Calderon and had 30 students. The students learned about using technology, including cameras.

"Those kids were just all over it," Fleming said.

The most recent yearbook had 56 pages not including the front and back covers, which did not have any inside print. Last year's yearbook was the same size. Bonsall High School had only ninth-graders during 2014-15 and had both freshmen and sophomores in 2015-16, and the lack of increased pages despite the additional students is due in part to new school opening coverage in the initial yearbook and in part due to cost considerations.

"We wanted to be fiscally responsible," Fleming said. "You don't want to have a yearbook that's too expensive for kids."

The yearbooks sold for $45.

"We sold all of the ones that were ordered, which is kind of unusual," said Fleming. "We were pleased to know that we were able to sell the ones that we did buy."

A total of 75 copies were printed and all were sold with the exception of the copy submitted to the San Diego County Fair and a copy for the Bonsall High School archives.

The 2014-15 Bonsall High School yearbook was also given first-place status.

"I think as a little school we set the bar high two years in a row getting first place," said Fleming. "We like to think we're creating a school where we're good at everything we do."