The 2000-2001 La Pirogue staff received the Award of Excellence from the Taylor Publishing Company. This national honor listed La Pirogue as publishing one of the top five yearbooks in the nation. “It was a great honor to be featured in Taylor,” senior English education major from Thibodaux and editor Wade Rodrigue said.

The yearbook was not aware that they were entered into the competition. They had no input. Taylor chooses winners from all high school and college yearbooks that are published through their company.

The competition is based on theme development, cover design, and section design. La Pirogue’s theme “At the Crossroads” was concocted by Rodrigue.

“We were in between millenniums, and students in college are at crossroads moving between their student lives and their professional lives. I felt it was a very appropriate theme,” Rodrigue said.

The cover design was Rodrigue’s idea, while the section designs were collaborations between Rodrigue and each section editor.

The staff will be recognized in Taylor’s Yearbook Yearbook, which is sent out to all of the schools that are published through their company.

“It was really a surprise. I think what made our yearbook exceptional is the fact that we pulled together. The staff put forth a lot of extra effort, which helped get things done ahead of time,” Rodrigue said.

The staff came up with new ideas looking at different magazines to observe changes in design and finding ways to improve the yearbook.

La Pirogue has won awards through the Associated Press and recently found out that they received a mark in distinction in photography. This is the first time that they have received an award from Taylor.

The yearbook staffers work spend approximately 25-40 hours a week. Viewers see the finished product, but the staff spends countless hours writing articles and trying to work out a design that works best and is interesting.

“I am proud of Wade and the yearbook staff, because their hard work and dedication helped them to receive their awards,” Nicole Boudreaux, Director of Student Publications and current adviser of La Pirogue, said.

2000-2001 yearbooks are still available in the La Pirogue office for any student who has not picked one up. Also, positions will be advertised in a few weeks for anyone interested in working on the staff for the 2002-2003 school year.