The Cornhusker is the NHSPA’s highest evaluation rating for a yearbook. The rankings are Merit, Distinction, Superior, and at the top is the Cornhusker, which requires 850–1000 points. To earn those points, there are five categories worth up to 200 points each: concept, coverage, writing, design, and photography.

Last year’s Burke Book earned very high ratings in each section, scoring between 175–200 points. For the fourth time on record since 1992, Burke was awarded the Cornhusker Award last year.

“Before I got here, they had only received one Cornhusker in 20 years, and the funniest thing about that was I was the one who awarded it to them when I was living in Florida and judging for Nebraska,” Michael Malcom-Bjorklund said. “So, to receive another Cornhusker my first year here, and only the second in 20 years, is a pretty big achievement for the journalism department and for the Burke Book. There’s room to grow, and I always think there’s room to grow, because unless you’re at the top of the heap, there’s always something to strive for.”

The concept, how well the yearbook depicted the theme, was one of the Burke Book’s highest-rated areas. With a score of 195/200, the concept showed judges not only an original theme, but also consistent use of it throughout the book and on the cover. The theme of last year’s book was “Maybe You Don’t Know, but You Should.”

“I think we had a very unique theme package and theme idea, and our layout is a lot different than other yearbooks around the state. I think that’s what made us definitely stand out,” Callie Huffman said.

According to judges’ notes, the book did a great job “showing how diverse the school is,” meaning there were many different people featured — it wasn’t repetitive with the same faces.

“It was really fun. It was also my first year, so it was kind of crazy that we did something like that, because we kind of came from fraud to fame,” Makenna Bendorf said.