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Treering’s glow up
Things are changing at Treering: you may have noticed the new look of the help center, blog, and website. This visual polish includes sleeker graphics, universal icons, and a more tranquil and optimistic green. Really: it’s the digital equivalent of getting our braces removed.
What hasn’t changed is who we are: your partners for a flexible, stress-free yearbook publishing experience. You are still in control of deadlines, page count, book content, yearbook quantities, editing permissions, and how your yearbooks are sorted in your shipment.
Not Just Cosmetic
Yearbook editors, advisers, and coordinators told us they wanted
- To enter the spread designer with fewer clicks
- More space to edit
- Time to prepare yearbook details before selling the book
- A way to donate books

Menus
Instead of a deep navigation (think: click, a new page, click, a new page, click, do your thing, save), we’ve kept chief editor controls centralized on the Dashboard. And while you're in the editor, you can now focus 100% on layout and design.
While adding photos to a template, do you have an idea for an additional spread? With the paginal navigation up top, you can preview thumbnails of your book and navigate throughout. Using the top navigation, you can also make changes to styles, move pages, and access help articles.
Yearbook Editor
The good news is all your favorites— templates, auto layout, and alignment tools—still exist.
The better news: since the left and right menus have merged, you have more space to edit. The zoom tool is faster and smoother making precision edits easier.

More Time, More Control
Now you can begin selling yearbooks on your school's schedule by setting the date of the sale. We had many editors ask for more time to determine their ladder, page count, and fundraiser. When you’re ready, or on our universal go-live date of October 15, 2022, you can launch the online sales platform.
We recommend taking advantage of the early yearbook sales incentives and discounts.
Book Donation
This option launched in the spring for a trial and the positive feedback made it a keeper. When editors enable this option, parents can purchase an additional book to donate to the school. Some advisers gift them to teachers, and others distribute them to students in need.
We know change can be scary. When Treering entered the yearbook space toting a print-on-demand, no contract yearbook solution, schools were wary of this too-good-to-be-true proposition. We're glad you're on this journey with us.

Yearbook hero Janet Yieh gives away yearbooks
Treering Yearbook Heroes is a monthly feature focusing on yearbook tips and tricks.
Long-time Treering editor Janet Yieh from San Francisco, CA started gifting yearbooks when her high schooler son was in elementary school. She added a fundraiser to the cost of the yearbook so every promoting fifth-grader received a free yearbook. Now, as the Family Partnerships Coordinator at Presidio Middle School in San Francisco, CA, she ensures every eighth-grader who wants a yearbook leaves with one.
This year you gave away 90 books. How is that possible?
In August and September, I push for early sales so parents can get the best price and I can earn free books from Treering. On September 30, I use the fundraiser to buy as many books as possible with the 10% discount. Then, in October, I do the same thing with the 5% discount.
Almost two-thirds of the graduating class purchases a full-price yearbook and I try to give away as many as possible by creating a contest. It susses out students who might not be able to afford a book and don’t want to ask for a free one.
How do you advertise?
I’m consistent with marketing: during the daily bulletin in homeroom, teachers show the tiny URL to register for the contest. In parent newsletters, there is an ad saying, “Hey, your kid could win a free book!” When parents hear about the book contest, some still purchase the book.
I also strategically reach out to teachers to see if they know any students who want to win a free book. It’s actually hard to get students to fill out the form.
What other tips do you have?
The students in the yearbook club received their books a day early. This created excitement and I sold out of the extra yearbooks I had on hand.

Our staff's favorite covers from 2022
In the yearbook world, judging a book by its cover sounds harsh, yet it is our reality. It's a super important piece: the cover holds the book together while introducing the theme and its visual elements. We also use the cover to promote yearbook sales. Because of this, our staff gets pumped when we work with schools to take their cover from ideation to completion. Together, we grabbed our favorite covers and compiled a handful to inspire others with their displays of school spirit, artistry, and thematic elements.
Our Favorite Covers Started with Developed Themes
We love a great yearbook theme (frankly, that's why we offer 300+ to users). A developed yearbook theme builds on what's trending on campus, such as new construction or an all-school volunteerism initiative. It inspires spin-offs, headlines, and coverage. It tells the story of this year.
Epic Themes and Epic Covers
Scarsdale, NY's Greenacres Elementary School used school and world events to guide theme copy in their book. Over five spreads, they detailed the highlights of the class of 2022's journey on campus from their days in kindergarten during the 2016 school year to the move to middle school. Each fifth grader's portrait is paired with their kindergarten one.

We first saw St. Xavier Catholic School in Juction City, KS's yearbook cover when the team entered the #TreeringMemoriesMatter Contest. By creating St. Xavier Xopoly, the team demonstrated the strong culture on campus. On the dividers, they used game-like spaces to continue the theme. We never smiled so much over being sent to detention.

Virginia's Governor's School for the Arts combined travel and the pandemic into their student-designed cover art. Inside, the dividers combine the pen and ink aesthetic from the cover with photo collages created by digital artists on campus, taking us on a voyage through a year of development and discovery.

Why we Love Yearbook Cover Contests
Cover contests are popular with elementary and middle schools. They unite the student body around the yearbook theme or the school's mascot (more on mascots below). Besides gathering original art from campus creators, it's a marketing tool to sell more yearbooks.
2 Cover Contest Winners
Nebbie Williams Elementary from Rockwall, TX chose the Presley yearbook theme by Treering Yearbooks and used its rocking graphics to inspire the art direction. A sixth grader designed the winning cover for the 25th anniversary book and runners-up appear on the back.

Another original art plus Treering Yearbooks theme book that caught our attention was La Costa Heights Elementary from Carlsbad, CA. The parent-led yearbook team selected the "Dream Big" theme and filled the yearbook with inspirational quotes. They revealed the theme to the students on campus when they launched their yearbook cover contest and the students interpreted it in their submissions.

Spirit Book Covers
We call mascot and school color-centric yearbooks "spirit books" because they tell the story of the year wrapped in school elements. Some schools create an iteration of their mascot each year on the cover, others do it to celebrate anniversary years or big moves.
POV: Mascots
The cover is a show-stopper, and the story behind the yearbook makes Chateauguay Valley Regional High School in Ormstown, Quebec, Canada more than a favorite: the team there is why we do what we do. When the school year began, there was not going to be a yearbook, so a group of students stepped in to create and promote it. (We're not crying either!)

Davis Intermediate serves fifth and sixth graders in Wylie, TX. The school’s motto is "A marauder… a swashbuckler searching for the greatest treasure of all… the treasure found within!" This cover contest winner encapsulates yearbook gold.

In Austin, TX, Purple Sage Elementary used art class to facilitate their annual cover contest. The art teacher brought in old yearbooks for students to look at, taught lessons on how to draw the mascot, and explained the concept of a yearbook to younger students. The Purple Sage faculty selected the winner from 48 entries: the top vote recipient is on the front, second place on the back. The ten finalists appear on the title page.

The Value of Student-Driven Yearbooks
The common element: our favorite yearbook covers began with a student-created piece. Student Emma Lorenz from Haywood High School in Hayward, CA said, "Seeing my own art be a part of my school's history feels like a dream. I'm always on a journey to improve my art and I can't wait to one day look back at this cover."

What will your students create this year?

How many pages do i need in the yearbook?
You’re planning for the school year: you chose a publishing partner, the yearbook team and curriculum are set, and the clock is ticking to the first day of school, better known as the first day of coverage. Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? (We hope not!) Determining your yearbook's page count is a quick win and a way to get the year(book) organized. Your school’s enrollment and your yearbook ladder are two ways most schools get set up. We’ll discuss the merits of both.
Use Your Enrollment to Determine Page Count
Math lesson: there are 380 students on campus and you want to ensure three-times coverage. With an average of 12 photos on each spread (that’s two facing pages for those of you playing along at home), you’ll need about one spread for every 16-24 students. That breaks down to:
- 50 students or less: 32 pages
- 50-300 students: 40 pages
- 300-500 students: 64 pages
- 800-1000 students: 80 pages
- 1000+ students: 100-400 pages
While it’s nice to have a range, that’s a fairly impersonal method of guestimating your page count. It neglects the nuances, personality, and culture of your school. Let’s look at a second option for determining how many pages you need.
Why a Yearbook Ladder Is Win-Win-Win
A yearbook ladder is a chart that represents the pages in a yearbook. To build it, grab the last few years’ yearbooks, the latest school calendar, and your team.
- Brainstorm the non-negotiable events, sections (people, arts, sports), and yearbook traditions
- Brainstorm features, specials, and theme-related content
- Decide if you will organize the book chronologically, topically, or a blend of both
- Allocate spreads
We love doing this digitally because it can be fluid. If your page count is looking overwhelming because of time or budget, combine some topics. If it is underwhelming, return to number two: what additional, meaningful content will you add to your yearbook?
Remember, if you’re working with Treering, your page count is flexible; increase or decrease it at any time.

Yearbook hero Tawanna Edwards brought her a-game
Treering Yearbook Heroes is a monthly feature focusing on yearbook tips and tricks.
In our first-ever parent contest, Treering Yearbooks asked parents to capture and share their child’s unique POV. Elementary winner Tawanna Edwards from Cantonment, FL loves to play on words and used the first letter of her daughter Amani’s name to guide her design efforts.
We love how you organized your custom pages around your “A Moments.”
You’ve got to always bring your A-game! This year has been a year of many firsts and I created our custom pages to celebrate our activities, accomplishments, and accolades!
Talk us through each spread.
Activities: We have SO much fun participating in activities, whether it is schoolwide, or classroom-driven, Ammani wants to be a part of it all. A highlight has been the Bottle Biography Report on Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician who loved to count and helped change the world with numbers that soared astronauts to the moon and home safely. Ammani is great with her hands, and it has been amazing to see her little mind at work to create a masterpiece.

Accomplishments: We love our school and have cub pride in everything that we do! From spirit wear to fundraisers, we support every cause and do our part.

Accolades: Ammani has been on Cloud 9 with all her accomplishments, especially the yearbook cover contest, so we are embracing this accolade and sharing this moment with every student on the front cover of every yearbook this year.

Clearly, you had a plan for your custom pages–how do you begin to organize an amazing year like Amani’s?
Action speaks louder than words! Every picture chosen was "A Moment" that focused on what this year truly meant to us. Those actions captured the essence of success from many different angles.
I choose pictures of activities that Ammani is amped to be a part of and those that have us attached at the hip. Life is too short, so I try not to miss opportunities to show my support, whether it is Polka Dot Day coloring circles on her face or Running Club Relay with a 5K race and coming in LAST place.
What’s your favorite part about the process?
I am the Author! Being a quality engineer by day and a Treering page designer by night, I can create and give existence to anything my heart desires. The amazing part: I have access to graphics that look like me! Treering took the time to add that special touch to make me feel important, like I was part of the process.
What advice would you give to another mom who is just getting started?
Activate your creativity! Take the time to explore all options available to you before you customize: from backgrounds to layouts to text fonts to graphics.
Have F.U.N. (Fully Understand Newness). When I started this journey, I had no idea there was so much to choose from that I did not take the time to truly learn the process. It can be a bit overwhelming, but each year I learn something new that can be used to make my custom pages stand out better than the year before.
There is no right or wrong way to customize your pages… create your own F.U.N. (Find Ur Niche) and have fun at it!

Yearbook hero Kirsten Megaro tells a complete story
Treering Yearbook Heroes is a monthly feature focusing on yearbook tips and tricks.
In our first-ever parent contest, Treering Yearbooks asked parents to capture and share their child’s unique POV. Homeschool mom Kirsten Megaro from Netcong, NJ created a spread to celebrate the growth in all areas of her three kids' lives: educational accomplishments, deepening friendships and family relationships, creative projects, and current hobbies and activities.

How did you decide what to include on your custom pages?
Our homeschool co-op offers a mix of core and extracurricular classes. We love how our yearbook documents the classes and field trips we enjoy with our group each year. The custom pages allow us to see a wider view of our year.
I like to include a casual portrait of each kid from the year as a focal point, then use larger text boxes to give an overview of the main activities we participated in during the year. I fill in the rest of the spread with some of our favorite photos with captions to share the accomplishments they had, hobbies they pursued, important people in our lives, and field trips we took throughout the year.
The judges loved the color scheme as well as the repeating elements of the rounded rectangles.
I love playing around with layout: moving pictures, adding frames, making it organized, but just a little quirky too.
How do your kids help tell their stories?
We take so many pictures that it’s hard to narrow them down. I usually start by choosing my favorites that give a good overview of our year, then ask my kids what information and pictures they want to include to remember for the future.
What advice would you give to another parent who is just getting started?
Start simple: use a template for your layout—there are a lot of great options! Drop your pictures in and add a few captions. Add a creative touch here or there to start, and each year, you’ll get more and more confident and capable of showing your personality and style through your pages.

Yearbook hero Paul Nisely made us cry
Treering Yearbook Heroes is a monthly feature focusing on yearbook tips and tricks.
In our first-ever parent contest, Treering Yearbooks asked parents to capture and share their child’s unique POV. Self-described Band Dad Paul Nisely from Charlotte, NC entered the senior tribute he created for his son, Jason.

Paul featured his son’s involvement as a trumpet player in both the marching band and the school’s band as well as the friendships he’s built and maintained throughout 9-12 grade. On the right-facing page, he created the show-stopper that had us all choked up.
How did you decide what to include on your custom pages?
I have been taking a first day of school photo of my son in the same spot in front of our house every year since kindergarten and wanted those memories on one page. I have seen this done many times before.
In addition to seeing the changes in your child, you can also see the changes in the background scenery. We had to remove the brick edging because it was a fire ant nest which we realized after a photo. The different hairstyles, clothes, and backpacks show how much he has changed and how quickly the years go by. Every time I look at that page it makes me tear up.
Paul, let me tell you, there was a lot of emotion from the parents on the panel after seeing your spread. A reverent hush permeated the meeting, and then we read your story.
I love telling a story and getting emotional reactions with my photos. I was a newspaper photographer and went to school for photography and absolutely love seeing “visual moments” and documenting them. When the marching band season is finished I love putting together the photo book for that season. Even though my son is graduating I have already told the band directors I would love to keep taking photos of the band and making more keepsake photo books for the kids and their families.
Since you’re also a professional photographer, will you share some tips?
Take a lot of photos! You can’t run out of film: it's all digital now. Be there for the moments that are important for your child and capture them. Be patient with your child and be patient when taking photos. Then tell a story with those photos.

7 yearbook templates to add to your google drive
Whether you just inherited the yearbook or are a seasoned adviser, the need to streamline processes is very real. We collaborated with middle and high school advisers, copy editors, marketing pros, and PTA officers to create free, editable yearbook templates to help you stay organized in your yearbook program.
Yearbook Planning Templates
Yearbook Ladder Template
Think of your ladder as your yearbook itinerary: it’s where you’re going to go and when. Using the school calendar and last year’s yearbook (or a few prior years’-worth), chart what will go on which spread.
We like to take our ladders and create a content calendar from there. Is the Turkey Trot scheduled for November? Well, so is Mrs. Jimenez who volunteered to take photos. Are track and swimming beginning in February? Then Jayne knows to contact the coaches in January.
Does pre-planning equate to inflexibility? No. It just means you’re ready for whatever comes your way.
Editable Yearbook Syllabus
From course objectives to parent acknowledgment, we have you covered. We’ll walk you through how to make it your own. And if you’re using Treering’s free yearbook curriculum, we’ve already aligned it to the national CTE standards.
Yearbook Staff Application
How do you separate the wheat from the chaff? An application helps. Staff recruitment might be the second-most important planning piece.
Yearbook Grading Templates
Spelling out exactly how your students will be assessed is a really important part of establishing expectations for the upcoming semester. A yearbook grading rubric is a perfect way for teachers to give students the grades they earned as well as the feedback they need to make a better yearbook. There’s no guesswork for them and your expectations are clear.
We made two rubrics for your yearbook class (heads up, they are in the same spreadsheet).
- Design Rubric
You might be tempted to break the elements of design into a handful of granular rubrics (one for photography, another for layout: you get the picture, pun intended). While there’s nothing wrong with doing this, ensuring that the individual elements work in concert is as important as the quality of those elements in their own right. Your end product is a spread, therefore, it’s graded as such. - Copy Rubric
By assessing the writing on each page, you achieve two things. First, you give your students a tangible grade for their hard work. Second, you can vet the copy on every page of the book, which gives you an idea as to how everything fits together tonally and whether the book as a whole adheres to your established style guide.
Yearbook Marketing Templates
Because everyone needs to see your yearbook team’s work, you need to get the word out. Marketing the yearbook is not just about sales: we have two templates below to help you get books in the hands of your school community and get more assistance in building an inclusive yearbook.
The Only Yearbook Sales Flyer You’ll Need
Yes, you should have a table at registration, parent conferences, and any all-school event with laptops or iPads so parents can shop on the spot. Many parents have yearbook sales as part of their back-to-school to-do list.
For those who don’t, we’ve heard year after year: this is the greatest flyer. It assures buyers they are in the book. Pair this with custom yearbook pages that print only in your copy of the book, and you truly have the story of your year.
Social Media Calendar
To market your program, you have to—to (mis)quote Ariel, “Be where the people are.” Use our social calendar to market to parents on Facebook and Twitter and pump up students on Instagram and TikTok.
We hope these customizable templates help propel your program to the next level. Keep it simple and happy yearbooking!

Yearbook signing tips
On the way home in the carpool, yearbook mom Kristie overheard her daughter and three friends talking about their yearbooks staying overnight at school so their teacher could look them over and cover up things like “stinky skunk” and “Chungus.” There were hurt feelings and students who felt uncomfortable through the yearbook signing process.
Kristie said, "The kids are constantly being talked to about kindness and all that jazz, and I think much of what happened today was one kid thinking they’re hilarious and the other thinking they smell like a skunk."
Bottom line: we haven't taught our kids how to sign a yearbook.
[Old lady voice] When I was in high school, I had already combed my parents' yearbooks and learned their deep secrets. I knew the art of reserving a page in my BFF's yearbook so I could fill it with Spice Girls' lyrics, inside jokes, and the obligatory, "Thanks for always being there for me." I wasn't commenting on her posts daily and DM'ing her. Her yearbook was the one-stop shop to confess my deep admiration and devotion.
For those who weren't in my circle in the quad, a shorter message strategically squeezed between longer passages made it look as though I ran out of room. (The winning formula is below.)
How Do You Sign a Yearbook for Someone You Don't Really Know?
- Spell names correctly
- Choose something specific to call out
- Say thank you for being you: Gen, I love your smile. Thanks for sharing it with the world.
- Sign your first and last name
How Do You Sign a Yearbook for Someone Who's Not Your BFF?
- Spell names correctly
- Find something positive to say
- Say thank you for being you: Paulo, You are confident in your abilities. Thanks for sharing your interest in horses with us.
- Sign your first and last name
Yearbook Signing for the Besties
Add Yearbook Lingo
Some things never change; we bet every 90s mom has two or three of these acronyms in her yearbook.
- BF Boyfriend
- BFF Best friend forever
- GF Girlfriend
- HAGS Have a Great Summer
- KIT Keep in Touch
- LYLAS Love you like a sister
- TTFN Ta-ta for now
Add Variety
Creative yearbook signing ideas, such as adding in song lyrics or writing messages in a more artistic form, break up the passages from others.
Remember, your signature will last as long as that book. Make it count.

Treering fundraising: from yearbook loss to profit
Wouldn't it be great if your yearbook could help buy your school new Chromebooks or iPads or fund a new STEAM program? We think so too! Treering has already helped schools raise more than $11 million (and counting) and funded all kinds of wonderful things for schools. Make money from something you already do: add any amount to the price of your yearbook as a fundraiser.
Our books are so fairly priced that you don't need to feel guilty about adding a fundraiser to the cost of the book. Let's say the core price of your book is $45, and you add a $5 fundraiser. If you sell 500 books, you will have raised $2,375 for your school! That could cover the cost of a few educational field trips!
Full disclosure (because, hi, we love transparency): Treering charges just 5% processing to cover the credit card and bank fees.
Fundraising in Action
Mercury Mine Elementary
"Treeing's fundraising tools helped my school build a yearbook program that no longer creates a drain on our finances. Now with Treering we MAKE money on our yearbook program. Funds raised from the yearbook go to our school's 501c3 Parent Teacher Group and help us to support the school’s programs and services. Our PTG strives to promote communication, understanding, and cooperation among students, parents, faculty, and the Miner community. Our goal is to promote a supportive and engaging community atmosphere and Treering helps us reach those goals." - Erin
Augusta Circle Elementary
"We use Treering’s fundraising tool in two ways. First, we add to the cost of the book, making $1 off each book sold. We also sell celebration ads to parents. We use our extra funds to provide yearbooks to 5th graders who may otherwise not be able to buy one, so that all graduating students leave with a yearbook. Last year, we raised enough money to refinish the outside basketball courts, which were worn down, cracked, and had become hazardous, plus added two new basketball goals! This year we hope to add a large sunshade over part of the playground with the money we raise through the yearbook. We are so grateful for Treering!" - Ansley
Presidio Middle School
"We give books to 8th graders who are moving up to high school. I give away about 60 books to 8th graders. We call it a contest, [students have to fill out an online form to enter] but it susses out students who might not be able to afford a book and don’t want to ask for a free one." - Janet
PSA on Fundraising With Yearbook Ad Sales
Typically, yearbook ad sales are one way teams do their fundraising.
Generally speaking, schools sell yearbook ads for one of three reasons:
- To pay back existing publisher debt
- As an opportunity to teach business skills (sales, advertising, negotiation, and more)
- As a fundraising effort to purchase new equipment
Number one can happen for myriad reasons: perhaps you bought far too many books last year, maybe your budget was slashed, or you inherited a yearbook program in the red. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate with your publisher for more school-friendly terms. (Thank you for coming to our TED Talk.)

While selling ads is a good way to teach students about business, it’s not a necessity for every yearbook program. Virtually any fundraising opportunity can be turned into something teachable, and selling ads is probably the most resource-intensive of the bunch. This reality is what makes ad sales particularly alluring because they quite literally become part of the finished product.
If you want to add business development consider teaching:
- Problem-solving
- Goal-setting and project management
- Team leadership
- Social media marketing to promote your program, book sales, and crowdsourcing

Why you need evergreen content for yearbook
Like its namesake, evergreen content stays fresh for a long time, unlike the tie-dye loungewear we are still trying to forget. While you should definitely include polls and trends in your yearbook (it is the story of the year after all), open-ended interview questions (such as the 40+ we are giving you below) should remain in your repertoire for three reasons:
- Stories and people change.
If you're pulling out meaningful quotes from your subjects, you could ask the same question to three different students and receive three unique POVs. - Stuff happens.
Anyone who made a yearbook in 2020 knows the pain of filling pages. Global pandemics aside, events get canceled. Photographers don't show up. Parents don't always email photos. Evergreen content will help fill in the gaps. - "I have nothing to do." - Yearbook Student
We're with you: there is always something to do. That said, building out evergreen content for your yearbook as a weekly assignment will give students a way to hone interviewing skills and give you a collection from which to draw if #2 above happens.
For ease of use, we organized these interview questions by yearbook section. Grab your editorial team and create your list!
Student Life
Because some of your formative moments occur outside the classroom, be sure to include all that goes into the school day.
Campus Life
- Research rumors about the school: secret hallways, urban legends, hidden treasures
- If you could change one thing about the school, what would it be?
- What school hacks do you use?
- How do you pass time during passing periods?
- School uniforms: how do you express your personal style?
- If you were cooking for the school, what would you make?
- What are the best playground games?
Routine
- What's your morning routine?
- How do you get it all done?
- What's your commute like?
- What's in your backpack?
- What will you never leave home without?
- Lunch: how do you spend your time? Who has the most drool-worthy lunch?
People
These questions make great sidebars to go along your portrait pages.
Milestones
- What was your first job, concert, etc.? (Here are a bunch more to ask teachers!)
- Describe getting your driver’s license.
- What do you do with your (summer) job wages?
- When was the last time you were grounded? Why?
- Which childhood foods will you eat forever?
- What is your biggest change in the last four years?
Interests
- What are you passionate about?
- What activities do you do outside of school?
- What is a must-see place in town?
- Who do you look up to? Why?
Academics
- Most embarrassing moments
- Worst school-related nightmares
- This year I was proud of…
- Lightbulb moments
- SAT/ACT/CLT prep strategies
- How do you prepare for finals?
- What do you do with your summer job earnings?
- What's next?
Athletics
- What makes us different than our rivals?
- What non-school sports are you involved in?
- How do you stay in shape during the off-season?
- For bi-sport and tri-sport athletes: How is training for [sport] different than [sport]?
- How do you balance being a student-athlete?
- What is your pre-game playlist?
- What traditions does the team have?
Bonus: Trending Topics
Add content on the following to complement the evergreen content in your yearbook.
- What’s in the news this year?
- Rock the vote: politics in school
- Fashion trends and style inspiration
- All about hair, makeup, and beauty
- Favorite TV shows, music artists, and movies
- Viral dance moves of the year
- Your go-to memes/gifs
- New technology
For even more interviewing tips, check out the yearbook storytelling module from Treering's free curriculum.

Yearbook hero Jazmine Richey and her editor share their vision
Treering Yearbook Heroes is a monthly feature focusing on yearbook tips and tricks.
In March, Treering Yearbooks announced its 2022 #TreeringMemoriesMatter Design Contest for yearbook advisers, coordinators, and editors to share their unique perspectives from their campus community. It’s time to meet the winners and glean their best practices for yearbook spread design.
Jazmine Richey is a student editor from Grandview High School in Grandview, WA who was nominated by her editor-in-chief Lilly Kassinger for her basketball spread. This spread caught our eye and became the one to beat for several reasons: it shows basketball season from the fans and team’s POV, it’s modular, and there’s a highlight reel produced by Jazmine linked to the QR code.
Jazmine, what all went into creating this spread?
I wanted to create a spread with not only the sports players included but the huge student section our school held. I created a highlight video for our boys' basketball team and wanted it to be included on my spread to show parents, students, or anyone who buys a yearbook. I took a picture of our own basketball hoop and wanted to incorporate each of our boys by giving them their own basketball.
It was an exciting year for you: national recognition for your yearbook staff, basketball state tournament playoffs, a crowd in the stands, and a new campus building!
They're pretty excited, especially because it's everyone's first year in the yearbook class. We're all really glad our hard work has paid off like this. More than anything, this yearbook spread represents both the creativity of our yearbook team and the passion our school showed during the winter sports season.

Lilly, please describe your relationship with Jazmine and why you nominated her.
Jazmine is one of our spread developers. In addition to creating her spreads, she does photography and edits videos to create content for our school. My role as editor-in-chief is to edit the spreads made by our team to make them fit together and take care of the rest of the book's loose ends.
How does your team design the book?
Our team makes all our spreads in Adobe InDesign and everyone creates their own layouts. As the editor, it's always nice to see the way each person on the team likes to design their spread, because once they make a couple you can see what their style is. Then I get to make the little tweaks to tie them all together for our book
Explain the big tie-in: the red line.
The spread is built around what we call the Red Line of Equity, which is a red line that is on our hallway tiles in real life. As this is our first year in our new building, we decided to incorporate it into our yearbook as a design element featured on every page, tying back into our theme of "Paving The Way" as we take the new parts of the school and turn them into traditions. The line represents not only the presence of the Red Line of Equity in our everyday lives but the beginning of the creation of traditions here at GHS.
Our school's yearbook's main strength is our theme and the way it is present in all aspects of our design. Our Red Line doesn't run through every page just because. We gave it a meaning. Just think about what story are you trying to tell about your school and dive right into making it into a reality.
What advice would you give to another student who is just getting started?
The most important thing is to have a vision.
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