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Senior Austin Simonds and junior Ann Cho admire this year's El Paisano on distribution day May 8. There are still books available for sale for $90 in the yearbook room, 285.

As the year comes to a close, APs are taken, summer plans are finalized and most importantly yearbooks are distributed.

The El Paisano yearbook is an award-winning publication that eloquently sums up the school year in exquisite pictures and stories that describe Westlake with creativity and style.

This year’s edition features a hand drawn cover done by graduate Betsy Yang. It depicts the outside of the WHS campus juxtaposed against the Austin skyline with the theme of Out T[Here] emphasizing the student connection to not only WHS but also the home city of Austin.

“It’s definitely more artsy than in years past,” yearbook editor Hannah Jones said. “We really tried to put am emphasis on how unique Westlake is and we are so happy with the results. I am really excited with how the cover turned out. We had seen proofs of it and had an idea of what it would look like but when it’s wrapped around a book it looks totally different and we were so excited when we saw it.”

For those few students that missed out on the opportunity to pre-order a yearbook for the 2013-2014 school year, they are for sale for $90 in cash in room 285 while supplies last. They can not be personalized now that the deadline has passed, however a WHS school year will never be complete without a beautiful El Paisano yearbook to cherish years from now.

“I think the feature pages are the coolest because they break up the monotony of the regular spreads,” yearbook editor Hanna King said. “They’re fun, like magazine spreads and they’re great to look out. There’s also a lot of creative whimsical design compared to the rest of the book.”

For the yearbook staffers, El Paisano is a labor of love that is well worth the work. They create a product that is loved the community over and cherished for years to come.

“My favorite part of being in yearbook is the little family I have formed between the editors and our adviser Ms. Todd,” Hannah said. “We have all laughed, cried and freaked out together and am so incredibly thankful for them and everything they do.”