Over 50 GCHS yearbooks available online

Grand County High School students and alumni are now able to browse through dozens of digital copies of the school’s yearbook dating back nearly a century, thanks to a new partnership between the school and web hosting site Skalooza.com.

For the past year or so, GCHS librarian Carol Stephenson and a group of student volunteers have been involved in a project to digitally scan copies of Grand County High’s annual yearbook, which has been known by the name “Mograndah” over the years.

All of those yearbooks, plus more, are now available to be viewed on-line at Skalooza.

The website now has over 50 previous GCHS yearbooks on-line. The earliest one dates back to 1919, although there is a class photo from 1917 and a photo and graduation program from 1915. Missing years are 1921-1937, 1940-1941, and 1968. The latest yearbook on the site is 2008.

Skalooza’s policy is to wait five years after the date of the book to host them, in order to ensure that no

current students are shown.

Stephenson invites all current and past GCHS students to visit the site and view the digital yearbooks, without charge or obligation. According to the terms of the agreement, the site hosting is paid for via links to on-line retail sites such as Amazon.com.

“For those purchasing items they cannot get locally, this is a great way to get Amazon prices while making money for the high school,” GCHS associate principal Lance LeVar wrote in a recent e-mail to district staff informing them of the new hosting site.

“You just go to the website and use their link to get to Amazon. You can still log into Amazon with your personal account, and the school gets a portion of each sale,” Mr. LeVar added, noting that similar arrangements with travel sites Hotwire and Expedia have recently been added as well.

Although site users must first register to view the yearbooks on the Skalooza site, registration is free and Skalooza promises not to sell the information to others, noting that the login information is used to be able to track alumni and other site users.

Many other schools throughout Utah and other states also have their yearbooks on the site.

Not only does Skalooza preserve past yearbooks, but also current and old pictures can be uploaded, along with videos of sports games, plays, and special events, plus a live streaming application. The school’s clubs and organizations can also post news about events and activities, as well as items for sale and fundraisers. Alumni groups will also be able to post information about class reunions.

“This will be a valuable site for current students, parents, the community and alumni to know what’s happening at GCHS and to stay connected with the school,” Stephenson said. “Having the yearbooks available will help the alumni get ready for a class reunion and also be a great source for historical and family history.”

Stephenson said that if anyone in Moab happens to have a copy of any of the yearbooks from missing years, please contact her at the high school library “We’d love to scan your yearbook so it can be online,” she said, adding that the yearbooks are not damaged in anyway during the scanning process.

Stephenson said the project initially got underway thanks to a generous donation from the classes of 1961 and 1962. She thanked all those alumni and students whose efforts and contributions have made the yearbook digitization project possible.