One of the most anticipated times of the year in high schools across America is the day when yearbooks arrive. This year, some local schools are turning to a new type of the annual that each student gets to personalize.

One of those students is Sarah Cummings, a sophomore at The Douglass School in Leesburg, who says that getting her yearbook hasn’t always been the best experience.

Now, though, she’s guaranteed to like her pictures – after all, she picked them.

“I always flip through and make sure my picture looks good, and if it doesn’t, I go and cross it out in everyone’s yearbook,” Sarah said.

This year, the school switched to a new type of yearbook that students can customize. Instead of flipping to find a small picture of herself like in yearbooks of yesteryear, Sarah will have two full pages of personal photos.

“I’m going to put in all the pictures from the day I was born until now,” she said.

The switch isn’t just for fun, either. The main reason the school switched, they said, is financial. Other companies required the school to buy a minimum number of yearbooks upfront, but many didn’t end up being purchased.

That wasted hundreds of dollars and left schools with stacks of yearbooks that were not sold.

“The fact we can order only the number we do sell makes it much more cost-effective for us,” Douglass School principal Jack Robinson said.

For the students, though, it’s all about having a say in creating their lasting memories; for some to express the things that mean a lot to them, and for others, the people that mean a lot to them.

“I dedicated one whole page to my mom,” senior Jessica Redmond said.

Students have until the end of the month to design their pages, and in about three weeks, their personal yearbooks will be ready for each other to sign.  READ MORE