Coquille High School - Laurel Yearbook (Coquille, OR)

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The 1986 Laurel was a changing yearbook as it geared down to match the changes in Coquille and its schools. Just as the downtown shopping area became smaller with the demolition of the Coquille Hotel in May, our yearbook became the first in many years to be under 100 pages. That reduction paralleled the district-wide reduction from 1,996 students in 1974 to less than 1,400 students in 1986. Along with fewer students, 9 teacher positions were eliminated and Washington Elementary School was closed. At the high school, enrollment in 1986 hovered around 400 students, a reduction from nearly 650 students in more prosperous times. Yearbook sales once above 550 books, didn't clear 300 copies for this 1986 edition. Despite the shrinkage, the yearbook continued its transition to high tech publication. Ken Jerin developed a computerized graphics system to do page layouts, each page editor used a word processor to write and edit stories and used the graphics program for layouts, Jennie Haldiman handled the index and ladder details that kept track of page progress and the pages each student was on. The pen drawing of the school's crest on the cover was done by sophomore Kathy Lemery. A new technique involved transmitting all stories, captions, and headlines from a Coquille High School computer to a typesetting computer at TypeACCESS in Portland. Using a modem that allowed the two computers to talk to each other, material transmitted by phone line by 3 p.m. on one day was back in the hands of staff members the next morning thanks to overnight UPS delivery. Fewer total high school students also reduced the number of students who were able to devote an entire year to yearbooking. As we looked at the shrinking size of the community, its schools, and the yearbook, Coquille's theme song seemed to have to been borrowed from Walt Disney: It's a Small World After All.