Same Mascot Different Covers

Using your school mascot or colors each year on your yearbook cover does not have to be repetitious and boring. Consider St. Bernard’s, a 101-year-old school for boys grades kindergarten through nine in New York City. For 15 of the past 17 years, the school’s mascot and other traditions have appeared on the cover of The Keg in drawings by professional artist Denise Watt, a former art teacher at the school.

“I’ve created this dog persona, and they seem to like it,” Watt said. “I like putting him in these situations and having the kids like it.”

Watt’s covers include drawings and paintings, and some years she produces the endsheets and drawings for spreads. She incorporates the St. Bernard, the mascot, plus the alligator, which has been a school fixture since 1959 when a parent brought a taxidermied specimen back from a trip to Africa as a present to the headmaster. Some years she comes up with the cover ideas, and other years the ninth-grade class or the yearbook adviser has given her a theme.

She has a style that is uniquely her own. We love Denise’s work,” said Peg Caldwell-Ott, yearbook adviser. While not every school can afford to pay an artist to produce a yearbook cover, St. Bernard’s covers demonstrate that you can use the same school items on your cover in a thousand different ways. Presented here are the past 12 covers, some depicting specific themes and some just a fun idea.