On Friday, April 30, the deep green and gold covers of this year’s Summit unified campus as Pensacola Christian College students flipped through pages, pointed out special pictures, or exchanged books to get the signatures of friends or teachers. This year’s design and content highlight the theme “Grow Together,” the very theme that the student body has embraced throughout this past school year.
“The Student Body officers have done a great job of emphasizing the theme of ‘Grow Together’ at each one of our Student Body chapels and through the activities and projects we’ve participated in,” said Zach Jewell (Sr., MI). Their emphasis is taken from the 2020–2021 theme verses, Ephesians 4:14–16.
Stephanie Hansen (Sr., IN), a student editor for Summit, explained, “This year’s Summit yearbook focuses on how students have grown together in every aspect of life at PCC—from cultivating friendships with other students to joining together to participate in community outreach. Each section of the yearbook emphasizes one particular way in which students have grown together this school year, and the design helps solidify the theme.”
This year’s Summit is dedicated to Dr. Dale Adkins, the director of Student Care and church ministries coordinator for pastoral interns. Students may know Dr. Adkins best, though, through his role in faithfully leading chapel by making announcements, preaching, and introducing guest speakers.
“Getting to work on a daily basis with such a great group of young people is amazing to me,” Dr. Adkins said. “I never get over seeing them leave chapel like a great wave and marvel at the potential for God that is there. When I retired from pastoring, I never thought it would be possible to feel so fulfilled and like I was making a difference again. I was wrong. I am just very thankful for the opportunity to be a part of a ministry like this.”
Despite the new challenges of COVID-19, PCC’s Summit staff has worked diligently to make the 2020–2021 yearbook a success. Whether through extending the distribution time for students to offer more opportunity for social distancing or through rethinking group photos, the Summit team has been flexible and innovative.
In fact, Mrs. Esther Hallman, head of the Summit staff, explained that there were “no group photos this year, unlike any other year.” Instead, the Summit staff worked with individual photos that were then composited together for groups such as sports teams and student leadership. Additionally, this was the “first year that students signed up for an appointment time for album photos to allow for COVID-19 protocols,” Hallman said.
While the 2020–2021 yearbook does include changes, it also includes many of the normal sections and activities that PCC students have come to expect over the years. As usual, students can look back on events including Greek Rush, student outings, athletic events, and Fine Arts Series. Some events that occurred too late to be included in the printed yearbook may also be part of the printable spring PDF provided to students after Commencement.
“The fact that the school is working toward more normalcy is really encouraging, so I enjoyed every opportunity where we could experience the events that have been a normal part of PCC,” said Caitlyn Dauphinee (So., ME). One of Caitlyn’s favorite events was an established one with a new twist. “I especially enjoyed the Missions Project with the flower fundraiser and tie-dye T-shirt event. That was such a fun, out-of-the-box idea that supported a great cause and the morale of the student body,” she said.
Stephanie Hansen added, “My favorite event from this school year was definitely Harvest Fest. I loved painting a pumpkin and taking a hayride around campus while the Christmas lights were on! Although I missed out on the Red Carpet Event [during Fine Arts] because I was in quarantine, I thought that it was a great idea, and I appreciate all of the new activities that students had a chance to enjoy this year.”
As for the pictures in Summit, many were taken by students themselves. In fact, the Summit staff are continually looking for student photo submissions for the yearbook. “We would absolutely love to get more submissions,” said Mrs. Hallman. “Students can submit to Eagle’s Nest or e-mail the Summit office with photo, name, and a bit of info. This is a book for the students, so the more student pictures I can use, the better!”
“I hope Summit will show the realities of what we had to overcome this past year while focusing on the joy we had and the growth we made while overcoming those realities,” said Zach.