Treering Blog

If you’re considering whether selling yearbook ads is right for your staff, you’re probably looking to take your team to the next level. Of course, it might also mean you’re hoping to satisfy a financial obligation to your yearbook publisher.  

Yearbook ad sales can represent a fantastic learning opportunity. This process can empower your students with real-world skills, from pitching to potential clients to designing captivating advertisements. And the proceeds that come from selling ads to parents and local businesses can help offset or even eliminate the cost of many wish-list items.  

However, if ad sales are necessary to offset yearbook debt instead of a way to benefit your program, Treering can help.

Define Your Goal

Before you think about ad sales, ask yourself: what’s our objective? Generally speaking, schools sell yearbook ads for one of four reasons:

• To teach business skills (sales, advertising, negotiation, and more)
• To purchase new equipment
• To help students pursue related learning opportunities
• To pay back existing yearbook debt

If your aim aligns with the first three, congratulations! Purchasing hardware and software that, in your staff's well-trained hands, will enhance your program for years to come is a fantastic achievement. And being able to do so self-sufficiently is even better! If you find yourself here due to the last reason, however, read on.

Cultivate Favorable Terms

There are many reasons your yearbook organization could be in debt. Perhaps you bought too many books last year (tip: not every company requires a minimum order quantity). Maybe unexpected charges surfaced on your final invoice or your per-book price seems high. Regardless, if ad revenue is solely meant to cover existing debt, it's a signal to reassess terms with your publisher.

The solution? Negotiate more advantageous terms. Open communication with your publisher can often lead to mutually beneficial solutions. Many publishers are willing to collaborate to foster goodwill and ensure continued revenue.

If renegotiation proves challenging, consider evaluating other publishers. Look for a partner that offers flexible terms, never requires contracts or minimum purchase requirements, provides inclusive per-book pricing without hidden fees, and offers school-friendly ways to raise funds.

Selling Yearbook Ads: the Potential of Your Program

Your yearbook has the potential to not only capture memories but also generate revenue for your program. If you find it becoming a financial burden instead, it's a cue to reassess your strategy. Selling yearbook ads should be a positive venture, enhancing your students' skills and contributing to the success of your yearbook program. As you embark on this journey, keep the focus on empowerment, learning, and the enduring impact your yearbook can have on your school community.

For a lot of yearbook advisers, the question of which students end up on their yearbook staff is outside their control—even if they don’t want it to be.

And while you can do a lot to influence that question, it’s still the teacher’s equivalent to rolling of the dice. Which means you could spend a lot of time focused on building your dream yearbook staff, only to find out it can’t happen for a number of reasons outside your control.

When it comes to your yearbook program, then, don’t just ask, Who are the right students for my yearbook staff? Make sure you ask, What’s the best way to structure my yearbook staff for my students and my goals?, as well. Because that second question might set you and your yearbook staff for success in more ways than the first question ever could.

Here’s why:

Focusing on the right structure for your yearbook staff will provide these advantages:

• Ensure the work your students do is aligned with your goals for the book, giving you a better chance of meeting your goals for the book.
• Ensure your students work in roles suitable to their experience and interests, giving them an opportunity to experience success early and learn a specific set of skills that interests them.

Inside this post, we’ll explore how to organize your yearbook staff for these advantages, plus the basic positions you’ll need to fill for a successful year. Read on.

Making Your Yearbook Staff Structure Fit Your Needs

When organizing your yearbook staff, you have two choices for structure: organize your staff by responsibilities, or organize your staff by sections of the book.

Understanding the advantages (and disadvantages) of both types of yearbook staff structures will make picking the right one for your team easier. That being the case, let’s break them down.

Organizing by responsibility.

A more traditional structure for large yearbook staffs, this approach mimics the type of organizational hierarchy that students will find out in the real world. It provides each member of a staff the opportunity to work on a core responsibility, giving them better experience in a select area.

If you have a large returning group of students, this can be an easy organizational structure to implement. You’ll know your students’ strengths and interests, and you’ll be able to match them to roles that will be the best fit for them.

https://blog.treering.com/yearbook-job-descriptions/

The advantage here is clear: Your students will become rockstars in their given roles. As the year progresses, so, too, will your students skills. The layouts and designs will get better, the photos will get better, the writing will get better. Hard to turn down, right?

There are, though, a couple drawbacks to organizing your staff in this fashion. For one, you need a decent sized yearbook staff—and that’s something not every yearbook adviser has. If you don’t have a class smaller than 12 students or so, you’ll likely be asking students to focus on multiple responsibilities.

For another, your job as a classroom manager will get a little hectic. Each responsibility on a yearbook staff—layout and design, copy, photography—could be taught as year-long, stand-alone courses. And if you’re students are diving deep on a specific responsibility, they’re likely to want the knowledge and challenges that come along with that deep dive. Figuring out how to teach three different subjects to three different sets of students for the entire year, then, can be challenging.

Organizing by sections of the book.

When you’re running a lean and mean yearbook staff, everyone needs to get their hands dirty on everything. And that’s exactly what this organizational structure allows.

For small yearbook staffs and for staffs where you know little about your students’ strengths and interests, giving everyone the chance to design, write and photograph allows for more exploration, skill development, and overall interest in the book.

Organizing your yearbook staff by sections of the book will give everyone a specific task, keep them focused, and help ensure each section (if not the whole book) has a cohesive feel. Pretty much everyone we’ve ever talked yearbooks with would agree it’s nice when that happens.

The biggest downside to this organizational structure is actually it’s strength: Students will get experience with lots of different responsibilities, but not a lot of experience with a single responsibility. That’s a problem, if one of your goals as a yearbook adviser is to help students develop a specific skill.

For student-run yearbook staffs, either of these organizational structures will help you set up your yearbook staff for success.

Basic Positions For Any Student-Run Yearbook Staff

Just like there’s no single, perfect organizational structure for your yearbook staff, there’s no single, perfect set of roles. There are, though, a few roles that are good starting points for shaping your staff.

Here’s a breakdown of yearbook staff positions to consider:

Editor-in-Chief

Because of the huge list of responsibilities that come with the title, nearly all editors-in-chief are returning students. Experience alone isn’t enough.

They’ll need all the tools: dedication, talent, leadership. Your editor-in-chief will be part of a small team that shapes the theme and coverage of the yearbook, and will help train new students, provide you with feedback on how the yearbook program is being run, and be part of the team that signs off on the book before it goes to print.

Editor

How you decide to structure your yearbook staff will impact how you define your editor roles. If you choose to organize your staff by responsibility, you’ll want an editor for each core area of the book: layout and design, writing, and photography. If you choose to organize your staff by sections of the book, you’ll want an editor for each section of the book.

Regardless, your editors will be lead-by-example types who are also comfortable providing guidance to staffers  and younger students. They’ll serve as coaches, and make sure students stay on theme and within the style guide constraints you and the editor-in-chief put in place. They’ll keep their pages moving or make sure their responsibilities aren’t blocking pages from being finished on time. And they’ll copy edit and proof pages before submitting to you and the editor-in-chief for final sign off before submission.

Staffer

With few exceptions, the majority of your students will be staffers.

Their primary responsibilities should include choosing the right layout for the write spread, taking photos, covering events, and writing headlines, captions and stories. Because many of your staffers will be new to yearbook, your editors will need to help guide with them. They'll work together on developing story ideas, learning to tell stories through photos, and fitting layout schemes and page designs to content.

There's plenty of work to go around when it comes to yearbook (as you know); so, making sure you have a sizable staff is worthwhile—even if that means your editorial staff is a bit smaller.

Spending more time on structuring your yearbook staff to best fit your students and your goals will do more than help you create a better book; it’ll help you deliver a more rewarding experience for the students in your program.

You probably know by now that a good yearbook superlatives list is enough to get your whole school talking. But you know what really get your readers to crack some smiles? Teacher superlatives. While many schools have traditions of turning their faculty portrait pages into light-hearted affairs, nothing gets your teachers and faculty a spotlight in the yearbook quite like an awards or superlatives section just for them. And for good reason: They’re an opportunity to celebrate the hard work and dedication teachers put into the school year while giving a nod to the character traits and quirks that make your faculty so memorable. (Plus, nothing beats the feeling you’ll get when you’re able hand a superlative certificate to the winner of “Most likely to win a rap battle.”) It doesn’t matter if teacher superlatives are voted on by students or by faculty themselves, if they’re straight-up funny or just plain interesting, this is a feature that’s hard not to love. Read on, as we unveil our list of 35 teacher superlatives ideas and tips for writing your own.

35 Super Awesome Teacher Superlatives

While we’ll spend some time shortly talking about how to write your own yearbook awards for teachers, we figured we would dive right in with some ready-made ideas:

• Most likely to have a new hair style/color

• Most likely to be your friend on Facebook

• Most likely to be found enjoying nature

• Most likely to bring a pet to school

• Most likely to be seen on the big screen

• Most Likely to win Jeopardy

• Most Likely to pack their bags and travel the world

• Most likely to win a rap battle

• Best advice and wisdom

• Most friendly

• Most enthusiastic

• Most likely to create world peace

• Best storyteller

• Funniest

• Most distinguishable voice

• Most school spirit

• Most Likely to Break Out in Dance

• Most Artistic

• Best Smile

• Most likely to not give weekend homework

• Most likely to have a desk full of apples

• Most likely to know the score of last night’s game

• Most Inspiring

• Most Quotable

• Most intimidating vocabulary

• Best Beard

• Best wardrobe

• Scariest death glare

• Most likely to make sarcastic comments

• Most likely to scold you and give you a detention

• Most likely to be mistaken for a student

• Most likely to scold you for eating food near the computers

• Most Likely to Be Accidentally Called Mom/Dad

• Most likely to catch a student texting in class

• Best taste in music

Of course, some of these might do the trick for your teacher superlatives and some of these might not. That’s why it’s a list of ideas. If you’re more the do-it-yourself type, we’ve got some helpful tips below on how to write your own superlatives. In either event, we’ve created a free template for you to use as you build your superlatives list. Check it out here.

Writing Your Own Yearbook Awards For Teachers

To generate your own list of teacher superlatives, sit down with your staff and begin with an old fashioned brainstorm. Starting with your existing senior superlatives list or yearbook awards list makes the most sense, so simply reframe your list of superlatives so that they’re teacher focused. For example, “Class Clown” becomes “Funniest Teacher” and “Teacher’s Pet” becomes “Favorite Teacher.” A lot of the same rules apply to yearbook awards for teachers as they do for students, especially if you’re trying to write funny superlatives: Which teachers are fair game? Are the superlatives funny? Or are they mean? It can be a fine line, so be careful and get a second opinion if you think something’s pushing it a little too far. From there, add to your list using some school-specific superlatives:Does someone embody school spirit like no other? Do some of your school’s teachers have idiosyncrasies so well-known around the building that they’re a shoe-in for one superlative or another? As you work through the logistics of who’ll do the voting (Just faculty? Just graduating students? The whole school?), you’ll know you’ve hit the right mark when you hear the chatter start in the hallways and see the smiles creep across students’ faces. That’s because including teacher superlatives and other types of awards in your yearbook is an easy way to give special recognition to faculty—a group who help make the school year what it is, but often aren’t recognized in the yearbook.

As the student rising to the call of leadership, the teacher who is a champion of her students, or the parent hero stepping in, you should have a say in your schedule. You can work out on-demand, watch TV on-demand, why not publish on-demand? Adhering to multiple deadlines while committing to book sales and page counts is impossible when you don't even know how many events will take place this year. At Treering, we believe that schools, parents, and students should be given the flexibility and freedom to build a yearbook without the stress of ANY commitments.

Flexible Deadlines: Finish Your Book When You're Ready

With Treering there's only one deadline: the day you want to finish your book. Three weeks from that day, your books will arrive to your students. Period. Want to change that date, no problem. The date can be moved at any time, to any date you need. The choice is yours.

Flexible Distribution: Ship Your Yearbooks to Your School, or Directly to Each Student's Home

We offer free sorting (alphabetical, by grade, by classroom) and free bulk shipping to the school. If you want more time to capture prom or graduation, you can have the books shipped directly to each student's home for a flat-rate shipping fee. It's your choice!

Flexible Details: Decrease (or Increase) Your Pages or Even Cancel Your Book

Should something change and you need to decrease your page count, we will let you do that anytime before you hit print ready! Need to cancel your school's book altogether (we hope not), you can do that without worrying about incurring any fees. Your school never pays us anything, and your parents only pay if they decide to buy a book.

No contracts and no minimums mean no worries and no stress.

Flexible Collaboration: Collecting Content from your School is Easier than Ever!

For the sake of inclusivity and to capture all aspects of school, it's important to get photos and help from your community. (Repeat after us: "I can't do it all!") Our shared folders and mobile app make it extremely easy to collect content from your school. By making it simple for everyone to submit photos, you're guaranteed to have everything you need to build a unique book this and every year.

Flexible Designing: Thousands of Innovative Page Ideas at Your Fingertips

Complete book looks, including layouts, fonts, graphics, and color palettes, are free for all Treering customers. Don't worry, they are flexible enough that you can make them even more to your liking. You can even upload your own spreads.

As the student rising to the call of leadership, the teacher who is a champion of her students, or the parent hero stepping in, you should have a say in your schedule. You can work out on-demand, watch TV on-demand, why not publish on-demand? Adhering to multiple deadlines while committing to book sales and page counts is impossible when you don't even know how many events will take place this year. At Treering, we believe that schools, parents, and students should be given the flexibility and freedom to build a yearbook without the stress of ANY commitments.

Flexible Deadlines: Finish Your Book When You're Ready

With Treering there's only one deadline: the day you want to finish your book. Three weeks from that day, your books will arrive to your students. Period. Want to change that date, no problem. The date can be moved at any time, to any date you need. The choice is yours.

Flexible Distribution: Ship Your Yearbooks to Your School, or Directly to Each Student's Home

We offer free sorting (alphabetical, by grade, by classroom) and free bulk shipping to the school. If you want more time to capture prom or graduation, you can have the books shipped directly to each student's home for a flat-rate shipping fee. It's your choice!

Flexible Details: Decrease (or Increase) Your Pages or Even Cancel Your Book

Should something change and you need to decrease your page count, we will let you do that anytime before you hit print ready! Need to cancel your school's book altogether (we hope not), you can do that without worrying about incurring any fees. Your school never pays us anything, and your parents only pay if they decide to buy a book.

No contracts and no minimums mean no worries and no stress.

Flexible Collaboration: Collecting Content from your School is Easier than Ever!

For the sake of inclusivity and to capture all aspects of school, it's important to get photos and help from your community. (Repeat after us: "I can't do it all!") Our shared folders and mobile app make it extremely easy to collect content from your school. By making it simple for everyone to submit photos, you're guaranteed to have everything you need to build a unique book this and every year.

Flexible Designing: Thousands of Innovative Page Ideas at Your Fingertips

Complete book looks, including layouts, fonts, graphics, and color palettes, are free for all Treering customers. Don't worry, they are flexible enough that you can make them even more to your liking. You can even upload your own spreads.

When it comes to crafting memorable yearbooks, superlatives are a staple. These awards allow students to celebrate their peers in fun and lighthearted ways while preserving memories of who they were during the school year. However, the classic titles like Teacher's Pet, Most Likely to Succeed, and Class Clown—while timeless—can feel a bit overdone. That’s why we’ve curated a fresh list of over 100 yearbook superlatives that go beyond the clichés and embrace today's students' diversity, creativity, and individuality.

Senior Superlative Ideas for Any High School Yearbook

The best yearbook superlatives celebrate individuality and avoid focusing solely on physical attributes. By shifting the focus to creativity, character, and accomplishments, your yearbook can reflect the dynamic personalities of your class while creating moments of joy for everyone who flips through its pages.

And they are no longer just for your senior section. We're also seeing superlatives for elementary and middle school students plus teachers.

Superlatives For the Pop Culture Fanatics

1. Future viral sensation
2. Most likely to be verified on social media
3. Most likely to get a deal on Shark Tank
4. Next big TikTok trendsetter
5. Future Marvel hero
6. Most likely to direct an Oscar-winning film
7. Most likely to write a best-selling YA novel
8. Next reality TV star
9. Most likely to produce a Grammy-winning album
10. Most likely to host a podcast

Standouts for World-Changers

11. Future Nobel Prize winner
12. Most likely to start a nonprofit
13. Best candidate for the CIA
14. Most likely to be a UN ambassador
15. Most likely to create a greener future
16. Most likely to invent the next big thing
17. Most likely to solve world hunger
18. Most likely to lead a humanitarian mission
19. Most likely to make space travel affordable
20. Most likely to change the world through art
21. Most likely to reform the education system

The Standouts in Personality

21. Most likely to brighten your day
22. Best advice giver
23. Most likely to laugh at their own jokes
24. Best at making new friends
25. Most likely to win at trivia night
26. Most likely to remember your birthday
27. Most likely to cheer you up with a meme
28. Most likely to have a cool hobby you didn't know about
29. Most likely to be a secret genius
30. Most likely to travel the karaoke circuit

Tech & Innovation Superlatives

31. Most likely to work at a tech giant
32. Future app creator
33. Most likely to go viral on GitHub
34. Most likely to build the next social media platform
35. Most likely to win a robotics competition
36. Most likely to design a sustainable city
37. Future AI specialist
38. Most likely to lead a virtual reality revolution
39. Future cybersecurity expert
40. Most likely to write the code that changes the world
41. Most likely to build a flying car

Creative Superlatives

41. Most likely to design a fashion line
42. Future Disney Imagineer
43. Most likely to illustrate a graphic novel
44. Most likely to be a professional photographer
45. Most likely to write/produce/star in a Broadway musical
46. Future art gallery curator
47. Most likely to star in a viral dance challenge
48. Most likely to edit an award-winning film
49. Most likely to open a boutique
50. Most likely to host a DIY show

School-Spirit Leaders

51. Most likely to plan the best reunion
52. Most school spirited
53. Most likely to remember every school tradition
54. Most likely to stay involved as an alum
55. Most likely to be voted into the Hall of Fame
56. Most likely to name their pet after the mascot
57. Most likely to preserve all their yearbooks
58. Most likely to organize the class group chat
59. Most likely to wear school colors forever
60. Most likely to volunteer at every school event
61. Most likely to return as a teacher

Celebrate Explorers and Adventurers

61. Most likely to backpack around the world
62. Most likely to climb Mount Everest
63. Most likely to be on a national geographic cover
64. Most likely to travel in a tiny home
65. Most likely to road trip across America
66. Most likely to work on an antarctic research base
67. Most likely to be a wilderness survival expert
68. Most likely to discover a new species
69. Future travel blogger
70. Most likely to live on a sailboat

Humanitarian Superlatives

71. Most likely to be a first responder
72. Most likely to work in public health
73. Most likely to foster rescued animals
74. Most likely to start a free library
75. Most likely to volunteer internationally
76. Most likely to champion mental health awareness
77. Future advocate for marginalized communities
78. Most likely to win a humanitarian award
79. Most likely to organize a food drive
80. Most likely to host fundraising galas

Superlatives that Celebrate Unique Skills

81. Most likely to master a new language
82. Most likely to memorize the entire dictionary
83. Best at solving a Rubik’s cube
84. Most likely to train a pet for tv
85. Most likely to start an e-sports team
86. Most likely to be a Guinness world record holder
87. Most likely to excel at any board game
88. Most likely to master culinary arts
89. Most likely to be a pro dungeon master
90. Best at remembering random facts

Community Superlatives

91. Best neighborhood organizer
92. Most likely to run for local office
93. Most likely to open a community center
94. Most likely to start a neighborhood tradition
95. Most likely to build a successful co-op
96. Most likely to run a food truck everyone loves
97. Most likely to revitalize a downtown area
98. Most likely to be a local celebrity
99. Most likely to mentor future generations
100. Most likely to make everyone feel included

Athletic Superlatives

101. Most likely to be in the Olympics
102. Most likely to compete in the X-games
103. Most likely to coach a championship team
104. Best teammate
105. Most likely to design athleisure wear
106. Most likely to become a fitness instructor
107. Most likely to run a marathon on every continent
108. Most likely to be a sports journalist
109. Most likely to win a Superbowl/Stanley Cup/World Series/MLS Cup/NBA Championship
110. Most likely to build an inclusive sports league
111. Most likely to train the next MVP
112. Most likely to win a Heisman

How to Choose the Right Superlatives for Your School

When brainstorming yearbook superlatives, consider your school’s culture and student body. What resonates with your classmates? Are they passionate about social causes, obsessed with pop culture, or deeply involved in athletics?

Here are four tips to guide your process:

1. Survey students: Your yearbook team should come up with the categories and the student body should nominate the winners.
2. Focus on positivity: Avoid potentially negative or divisive categories.
3. Stay relevant: If you arent using your theme to determine which superlatives to offer, incorporate trends in technology, media, and culture to keep your list fresh.
4. Celebrate achievements: Recognize contributions across academics, arts, athletics, and community involvement.

Much like creating a yearbook, recruiting and running a yearbook staff requires a bit of planning. The easiest and fastest way to get started, though, is to answer two simple questions:

1. Why should students join your yearbook staff?
2. What are your goals for the yearbook?

Answering these questions will help you shape your recruiting efforts and structure your yearbook staff. And don’t worry: We’re not going to spend the entire post talking about these questions; we’re going to talk instead about how answering these questions will make your yearbook staff planning far more effective. So, read on. It doesn’t matter if you’re leading a yearbook club or a yearbook class, we’ll show you how to use the answers to these questions to get your team up and running. After all, before you start deciding how your students are going to market the heck out of your yearbook, design great spreads, and beat every deadline you can throw at them, you need to have a yearbook staff in place.

Why should students join your yearbook staff?

So, why join yearbook? It’s a pretty straightforward question, really, and it’s one you might even be tossing back to your students on a yearbook staff application form. But here’s the thing: Because you’re asking yourself (and not your students) this question, you have an opportunity to shape your yearbook class or yearbook club before anyone even signs up. It’s your opportunity to align your recruiting with your yearbook program’s goals. Let’s take a look at some potential reasons for joining a yearbook staff, how they align with a yearbook adviser’s goals, and why they’re important to consider before diving into your recruiting efforts. Take these three examples:

• Express yourself creatively.
• Get better at something you already love to do.
• Learn career-oriented skills.

These may seem like three very similar reasons you’d use to persuade students to join your yearbook staff, but they’re actually very different. Understanding the nuances between each can help you better target and attract a specific type of student—you just need to know which type of students you need to achieve your goals. Let’s break down each example to further explain:

• Express yourself creatively. As reasons to join yearbook staff go, this is about as low pressure as it can get. You’re looking for students who have a creative itch and want to scratch it. They’ll be eager, no doubt about that, but you may attract a number of students who need full instruction on theme development, design theory, and following style guides. That’s not to say you won’t create a great book with your class or club; we bet you will. But some of those advanced design elements and layout techniques you’ve seen elsewhere? They may need to wait a year or two until your staff has more experience.

• Get better at something you already love to do. You’ll still be finding those creative students who want to express themselves. Using this reason, though, you’ll be more likely to find students who are passionate about a particular discipline—like photography, writing and design—and are ready for the hands-on teaching to get better at it. These students will already understand the basics of stuff like theme development, design theory, layout techniques, and will be excited to try new, more-advanced aspects of it. You’ll be focused on getting them to the “next level” that they’re aiming for.

• Learn career-oriented skills. Before we dive in here, we’ll admit: It’s probably tough to find enough students who are looking for career-focused instruction to fill out a yearbook staff. (If you can, though, good for you. And kudos to your students.) Students attracted to this reason are more likely to know what they want to do when they grow up. They’re focused on becoming graphic designers, photographers, and journalists. So, you’re not just going to be focused on getting them to the “next level,” you’ll be focused on teaching them the tools they need, like desktop publishing software and photo editing tools.

Notice how each example targets a different type of student? Recruiting a mix of students is good for your yearbook staff, but it’s important that you target each type based on the type of yearbook you want to produce. Speaking of which…

What are your goals for the yearbook?

Like we mentioned earlier, knowing your goals for your yearbook class or yearbook club will help you better recruit the types of students you need to achieve your goals. But that’s not the only reason to outline your goals before you start recruiting a yearbook staff. The idea here isn’t just to find the types of students you need; it’s also to find the types of students who will get the most out of your class or club. Take, for example, a yearbook program that has a primary goal of “producing a book that lets students tell the story of the year while expressing themselves creatively.” That’s a good goal. It’s specific and it’s achievable. (It even sounds fun!) But a career-oriented student probably isn’t going to get the most out of a yearbook club with that goal. Likewise, a yearbook class with a primary goal of “producing an award-winning yearbook that teaches students how to better use professional desktop publishing and photo editing tools” probably isn’t going to appeal as much to the creative students who aren’t interested in deepening their talents and skills as it relates to journalism and desktop publishing. But that doesn’t mean that one goal is good and the other goal isn’t. It just means that the goal and yearbook staff need to be aligned. You need to draft your goal, determine the type of student who is going to get the most out of a class or club that has the specific goal, and work to bring those students onto your staff. So, here’s an exercise:

• Draft your goal for your yearbook program.
• Be specific about what you hope the yearbook achieves, what you hope the students learn, and what you hope you’ll teach along the way.
• Determine which character traits and goals students should have to help you achieve those goals.
• Craft recruiting messages (based on those reasons we mentioned above) that speak primarily to those students.

It probably goes without saying, but you’ll want to avoid being exclusionary in your recruiting efforts and you’ll want to encourage all types of students to join the yearbook staff. While they might not have the exact traits you’re looking for, they’ll still have plenty to offer. And it’s also worth noting that you may need to adjust your goals later, depending on how successful your recruiting efforts are. That’s totally normal and, frankly, a good thing to do. When it comes to recruiting a yearbook staff, aligning your class or club goals with your students’ goals will help you better find students to join your team. It’ll make your job as an adviser easier and their job as a student more pleasant. Plus, it’ll help you create an even better yearbook.

One of the best ways to get better at writing is to read great writing. Similarly, the only way to teach students how to create exceptional yearbook copy is to absorb and share as much great writing as you possibly can. Here’s why: Good writing serves as a model of excellence for flourishing writers. It has the ability to teach and inspire at the same time. (Talk about powerful stuff.) Encouraging your staff to spend time reading—and imitating—good writing can drastically improve the quality of the yearbook copy they produce for your book. If your goal is to include yearbook stories that capture the minds and hearts of your community even more than the photographs do, reading and discussing great nonfiction is key. Ideally, you’ll be doing that before, during, and after a yearbook writing assignment, but we get that there are other parts of the book to cover, as well. In any event, we figured we’d give your reading list a jump start by pulling together seven pieces of truly exceptional nonfiction. It’s probably worth noting that none of these pieces appeared in a yearbook. And there’s a reason for that. From saving a local library that has served a downtrodden community’s lone bright spot, to exploring the philosophical underpinnings of cooking live lobsters, these pieces offer young writers a guide to finding their voice and inspiration to chase a great story. They also happen to give you some great teaching material. Besides, we’ll pretty much guarantee you’ll walk away from each piece with beautiful prose flitting about your head, and tears (of joy, laughter or sadness) in your eyes.

7 Stories to Help Teach Better Yearbook Writing

“The North West London Blues,” by Zadie Smith

You need to read this because… Zadie Smith is an excellent writer and one of the most influential writers in Britain (which is pretty much the same as saying she’s one of the most influential writers in the world, because, come on, we all know how much the Brits love to write). “The North West London Blues” is a piece in defense of the Willisden Green Library, a place she frequented as a child and that clearly functioned as a cornerstone of the community. Set to close and make way for commercial endeavours, the story is built around a community’s peaceful protest of the library’s closing. Smith talks through her own experience with and passion for the library, generally speaking, as a necessary component of any community, and does so with beautiful prose. Her sprawling narrative introduction gives way to highly descriptive writing that weaves personal experience with an argumentative streak yielding a piece of writing your staff will love. Stylistically, Smith deploys parentheticals throughout the piece in an interesting way, using them to insert long swaths of supporting information, as if the speaker grabbed a snippet from a pertinent Wikipedia page. Share this story with students who might enjoy weaving elements of personal narrative and rich description in a piece shedding light on a serious economic or social problem impacting the school community. A Brief Snippet of What Makes this Story Great... “Well-run libraries are filled with people because what a good library offers cannot be easily found elsewhere: an indoor public space in which you do not have to buy anything in order to stay.” Read “The North West London Blues” here

“Taylor Swift Runs the World,” by Chuck Klosterman

You need to read this because… Since the likelihood of your yearbook including a profile of some sort is rather high, knowing what a great one looks like is imperative. A profile shouldn’t be an all-out fluff piece, an unabashed celebration of an individual. But writing something that allows readers to get a glimpse of the subject without deifying them can be quite difficult. It requires tact, a strong voice, and the ability to sift through facts and quotes, determining what matters most before spinning it into a cohesive story. “Taylor Swift Runs the World” is an exceptional example of a profile piece. Klosterman’s patented style (gratuitous hair metal references and self deprecation) makes for a great read, and the stark contrast it creates when compared to the version of Swift depicted creates great tension throughout the piece. Chuck Klosterman is a criminally underrated national treasure. The guy’s hilarious, impossibly smart, and writes with a truly unique voice. A Brief Snippet of What Makes this Story Great... “There’s simply no antecedent for this kind of career: a cross-genre, youth-oriented, critically acclaimed colossus based entirely on the intuitive songwriting merits of a single female artist. It’s as if mid-period Garth Brooks was also early Liz Phair, minus the hat and the swearing. As a phenomenon, it’s absolutely new.” Read “Taylor Swift Runs the World” here

“Consider the Lobster,” by David Foster Wallace

You need to read this because… “Consider the Lobster” is probably more of an assignment for an AP English class, where you’d discuss the underlying philosophical argument, and take turns wrestling with the obscure language and the paragraph-length tangential deep dives. You can read the essay’s eight pages over and over and come away with your mind blown every time. David Foster Wallace is (in)arguably the most prolific essayist of the 90’s/aughts. His footnotes are often more illuminating (and more wonderfully written) than entire volumes produced by his peers. This essay is an interesting, off-kilter entrypoint into existential philosophy and the opulent-ish world of gourmandizing. Share this with your staff as encouragement to find their voice (no matter how “out there” it might be). Just be sure your staff doesn’t try too hard to emulate DFW: it’s impossible! A Brief Snippet of What Makes this Story Great... “Is it all right to boil a sentient creature alive just for our gustatory pleasure? A related set of concerns: Is the previous question irksomely PC or sentimental? What does “all right” even mean in this context? Is it all just a matter of individual choice?” Read “Consider the Lobster” here

“The life and times of Strider Wolf,” by Sarah Schweitzer

You need to read this because…                  If this one doesn’t make you cry, you’re wrong. Written over the span of months, Boston Globe reporter Sarah Schweitzer’s soul-wrenching story runs the gamut, detailing the life and circumstances of a young boy from rural Maine named Strider Wolf. A victim of horrific abuse, abandoned by his parents, and raised by his grandparents, Strider somehow manages to emit glimpses of optimism and happiness on a daily basis. This is a phenomenal example of telling an utterly tragic story with tact and beautiful prose, and the perfect way to introduce your staff to emotionally impactful writing that isn’t overdone. An added bonus: the accompanying photography won a Pulitzer, so be sure to share this one with your whole staff. A Brief Snippet of What Makes this Story Great... “A few weeks later, shortly before the end of school, Strider sat alone, under a DARE sign, curled into a wall alcove. The lunch ladies in blue smocks had piled his tray with potatoes and carrots and chocolate milk, but he picked only at a package of Pillsbury mini-bagels. It was grab bag day. A dollar bought a brown paper bag of goodies, like pencils and erasers. Two mothers from the PTO were stuffing bags at the table over from him. Lanette had told him that morning she didn’t have a dollar.” Read “The life and times of Strider Wolf” here

“Friday Night Lights,” by Buzz Bissinger

You need to read this because… It revolutionized the way people write about sports. It’s a sociological study of small-town Texas in the late eighties. You loved the TV show. Football season is over. Need I go on? Bissinger’s essay (and book, if you haven’t read it) chronicle a Texas high school football team and the surrounding community in the late 1980’s. An outsider (from Philadelphia), Bissinger became a part of Odessa, learning the town's racial, social, and economic machinations, and penned his book in a way that tackles (had to) these themes very much head on. While it’s unlikely your yearbook will feature pieces riddled with racial undertones, Bissinger’s ability to write about stories that didn’t take place on the field—as well as the actual accounts of football being played—in “Friday Night Lights” are excellent examples for your staff to check out. A Brief Snippet of What Makes this Story Great... “Crousen was saddened and dismayed. He couldn't help but wonder if Boobie, because of his natural athletic ability, had gotten too used to having everything handed to him. This August, while other college players prepared for the beginning of football practice, Boobie stood in front of his home in the Southside, chatting quietly with members of his family. It was then that his cousin Jodie found out that Boobie wasn't going back to Ranger and would sit out a year. She was shocked and worried. "You're just going to rust up, "she said. "It ain't gonna happen," replied Boobie, for he knew better. "It's a God-given talent."” Read “Friday Night Lights” here

“The Last American Man” by Elizabeth Gilbert

You need to read this because… Don’t be shocked if you read this piece by Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert and decide to move to the heart of Appalachia to build yourself a yurt and start clearing trees for fields. “The Last American Man” is another profile, though on the opposite end of the spectrum; instead of the subject being someone of unimaginable fame, Gilbert details the life and philosophy of a man who has chosen to eschew mainstream society, instead preferring the simplicity and joy of self-sufficiency (think Chris McCandless with more know-how and much better luck). If you have a staff that swears its high school is so boring they’ll never be able to find a unique story inside its four walls, show them this. Gilbert proves that anyone, anywhere can be fascinating. Warning: There are a handful of F-bombs in the introductory paragraphs. A Brief Snippet of What Makes this Story Great… “Eustace hated to blow its beautiful head off, so he took his knife from his belt and stabbed into the jugular vein. Up came the buck, very much alive, whipping its rack of antlers. Eustace clung to the antlers, still holding his knife, and the two began a wrestling match, thrashing through the brush, rolling down the hill, the buck lunging, Eustace trying to deflect its heavy antlers into trees and rocks. Finally, he let go with one hand and sliced his knife completely across the buck's neck, gashing open veins, arteries and windpipe. But the buck kept fighting, until Eustace ground its face into the dirt, kneeling on its head and suffocating the dying creature. That's what living in the woods means.” Read “The Last American Man” here

“Death of an Innocent,” by Jon Krakauer

You need to read this because… A lot of high school students read Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild. It’s a classroom classic; why not show your staff the essay from which it spawned? “Death of an Innocent” manages to combine a series of interviews, passages from McCandless’ own journal, scientific research, and even snippets of Krakauer’s own time spent wandering after college, to create a fascinating piece. Pay particularly close attention to the way Chris McCandless is characterized. Is his rugged individualism heralded, or is he painted as a brash young man woefully under-equipped for the circumstances he sought out? Is there even a definitive answer to this question? A Brief Snippet of What Makes this Story Great... “His education had been paid for by a college fund established by his parents; there was some dollars 20,000 in this account at the time of his graduation, money his parents thought he intended to use for law school. Instead, he donated the entire sum to Oxfam. Then, without notifying any friends or family members, he loaded all his belongings into a decrepit yellow Datsun and headed west, without an itinerary. Chris McCandless intended to invent a new life for himself, one in which he would be free to wallow in unfiltered experience.” Read “Death of an Innocent” here Read them. Learn from them. Teach with them. Talk through style and technique, pointing out the rhetorical devices and artistic flourishes that your young writers might incorporate into their yearbook writing. Most importantly, though: enjoy.

Yearbook surveys and polls are a great way to get a pulse on your school community for a specific year. Not just any survey will do that, though. Your yearbook poll results will be way, way better if you ask great questions and help people give great answers. Inside this post, we’ll show you how to do just that. And, as if teaching you how to fish wasn’t enough, we’ve got Atlantic salmon on deck: over 50 of our most fantastic survey questions to get your gears turning. Read on to get them.

How to Write Yearbook Survey Questions

Yearbook survey questions should be low-stakes and, more importantly, fun. They shouldn’t relate to anything that might spark controversy or offend anyone --politics, religion, etc.-- Structurally, you want to create questions that pair obvious inquiry-based words (who, what, where, when, why, how, etc.) with a specific set of responses. Questions can range from “what was the song of the year” to “best place to buy jeans” to “snacks the cafeteria should start stocking” (though that last one could start a small riot). These are fun questions, great for putting students at ease, and building trust before asking them to share personal opinions and anecdotes. Recycling the same questions every year isn’t necessarily a bad thing (provided the list you’ve created is full of excellent options). And of course, it goes without saying, you’ll have to change the answers listed to reflect the inevitable cultural changes (hello 20-21 school year changes).

Source Multiple Choice Responses Like a Pro

You’ve got three phenomenal resources at your disposal when it comes to generating the response options for your yearbook survey questions. Let’s take a look at them:

• Last year’s book. As we mentioned earlier, re-using older questions is perfectly fine: using old response-options? Not so much. That being said, they’re a fantastic jumping off point. Maybe Justin Bieber isn’t one of the best male singers this year. Perhaps Chipotle will cede its crown as the go-to pregame dining spot.
• Your staff. You might think you’ve got your finger on the student body’s pulse, but your student staff members are infinitely more plugged in. Grab a couple of pizzas one afternoon and have a brainstorming session to come up with responses. Not only will this help craft great answers, it’ll let you find if your questions actually resonate with students.
• Social media. Simply by paying attention to what’s happening in the student version of the world you can generate oodles of survey response ideas. Look at what’s trending on Twitter or TikTok and start keeping a running list.

When it comes to good multiple choice questions, you want to make sure you limit your responses to no more than 5 choices. Any more than this and students could have a hard time selecting only one. It might also become hard to read when you transfer the results into your yearbook, thereby missing the benefit of capturing this information for your students. Now, without further adieu, here’s our list of over 50 yearbook survey questions.

Over 50 Yearbook Survey Questions For Better Polls

Perhaps the easiest way to tackle this big list of questions is to divide them up the way we divide all questions: Who, what, when, where, why, and how. The biggest reason for doing it this way? Doing so gives you a bunch of options when it comes to laying out your yearbook polls spreads. Who...

• Is the best male singer/band?
• Is the best female singer/band?
• Would you you like to see speak at graduation?
• Was the most memorable performer (student)?
• Was the best actor (professional)?
• Was the best actress (professional)?
• Had the best athletic performance (student)?
• Was your favorite professional athlete?
• Wrote the best book?
• Made you turn off the TV?

What….

• Were the biggest differences between this year and last?
• Is your favorite professional sport?
• Do you wish the cafeteria had served?
• Was the most difficult class you took?
• Was the most memorable quote?
• Subject do you wish you tried harder in?
• Food did you try for the first time?
• Genre of music was most popular?
• Word did you hear most often when roaming the halls?
• TV show was everybody talking about?
• Jingle gets stuck in your head all the time?
• Accessory can you not live without?
• Is your favorite school outfit?
• Is the weirdest trend of the year?
• Decade would you pick to grow up in?

Where...

• Did you go after prom/school?
• WOuld you like to go this summer?
• Would you most like to take a nap in school?
• Would your team go to celebrate a victory?
• Are you happiest?
• Do you like to shop?
• Is the best pizza in town?
• Should there be a field trip to?
• Would you spend a free period?
• Are the school’s most comfortable chairs?
• Did you spend most of your allowance?

When...

• Did senioritis set in?
• Did you submit college applications?
• Did you start considering what you’d like to do after graduation?
• Do you get to school in the morning?
• Did you stay up the latest?
• Are you most productive?
• Do you do your homework?
• Did you cheer the hardest (school event)?
• Was the student body most excited?
• Is it okay to stop playing Pokemon Go/scrolling TikTok?

Why...

• Should school start 30 minutes later?
• Do you want to go to college?
• Do you prefer books to screen-reading?
• Aren’t there more students on the yearbook staff?
• Did [thing] happen on [show]?

How...

• Many books have you read this year?
• Many social media platforms do you use?
• Often do you send Snaps?
• Can teachers better-use technology in the classroom?
• Should the school go about picking new electives?

Got all that? Good. Great yearbook survey questions (and great multiple choice answers) will help you elevate any polling coverage you might include in your yearbook. Even better? It’ll help you spot trends that can lead to story ideas.

Getting yearbook tips from experienced advisers is like getting head starts in races: It’s rare that you get them, but, when you do, you’ve got less work to do than you did an instant before. Find an adviser who’s willing to share his or her yearbook tips with you, and you’ll end up with advice on everything from how to encourage creativity and increase confidence in your reporting team to keeping the size of your yearbook committee manageable and finding the best ways to introduce design concepts. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 20-year adviser or a first-time parent volunteer: Good yearbook tips can make your year a little easier. The challenge, though, can be in finding the right people to give you the right advice. That’s why we’ve created this post: Keep reading, and you’ll get great tips from experienced yearbook advisers. (This stuff is so good, by the way, that each tip is a direct quote from the adviser.) Let’s jump in.

7 Yearbook Tips From Experienced Advisers

How to Boost Creativity

“We always do a review of the previous year's book and discuss what worked and what didn't. We do a lot of brainstorming to come up with new ideas and angles. We try to look for interesting features that will make that spread unique. For example: Our wrestling spread last year...we learned that we had a girl wrestling on the team for the first time, and it was a very interesting story. We interviewed her and her teammates; it turned out to be one of our best features last year! We encourage our staff to carry a small notebook (yearbook journal) with them during the day. We instruct them to look for interesting features every day and jot them down in the notebook. They really like the idea of being "investigators" and getting the scoop! We also encourage them to create a Pinterest account and create a yearbook board. Pinterest has endless sources for yearbook: it has become a staple for our staff! We encourage them to "think outside the box.” All ideas are welcome; sometimes, they need to be "re-focused," but even the "overboard" ideas have given us something to work with!” — Shari Black, North Stanly Middle School

How to Promote Your Yearbook

“At our registration event before the school year started, I had a yearbook booth to show off the results of our first year using Treering. I ordered an extra copy of my yearbook to show them my two, free customized personal pages — both dedicated to the Kansas City Royals’ World Series championship last year. That sparked some ideas among parents and kids alike! (I used primarily photos that I took, or that friends on Facebook took, of the games and the victory parade.)” — Kevin Worley, Northgate Middle School

How to Keep Your Club Manageable

“In the beginning, I thought the more hands/minds the better, but it was a bit more chaotic than I had hoped. Now, I limit my team to 10 people. We meet once a week for about an hour and cover anything that needs to be done and start new pages if we are ready to move on. We use Schoology at our school and I created a “club” page there which allows us to stay in constant contact as assignments are getting done. My club consists of 8th – 12th graders. I will generally put my younger ones in charge of tagging photos and making sure photos are moved to the proper folder. My seniors have a lot of say in how the senior section of our book will look and spend most of the year working through the special projects for that. My mid-age students will mostly work on page design. I do also have a student that I put in charge of proofing so we know we have a final eye on everything. We have so much fun coming up with new projects each year that it has been fairly easy keeping the excitement at a good level.” — Rachel White, Cherokee Christian Schools

How to Help Students Feel Comfortable as Reporters

“Make really meaningful, visually pleasing, and large yearbook press passes for your kids. A good pass will make them more confident in getting into tight spots to get photos and helps keep them on task. It will also help others be less freaked out or think: ‘Why is that kid pointing a camera at me?’. A good pass makes getting your kids access to things like the sidelines of games or free entrance to events easier as well. I like doing passes because I can customize them each year to match the theme and colors of the yearbook for that year, but others do shirts or pullovers, which work well also. Whatever you get, put some time/money in to help it feel legit.” — Ben Johnson, Hutchison High School

How to Introduce Design Concepts

“I usually start off the year by telling my students, ‘Design a page all about you.’ But that’s usually not enough guidance. This year, I’m going to start by saying, ‘Design a double page spread about Field Day.’ It’s an annual event at the school that all the kids know. I’ll give them all of the pictures from last year. Then, we’ll have their designs as a learning tool, and we’ll critique everyone’s designs.” — Toni Vahlsing, Abington Friends School

How to Step Into a New Role

“The most important thing I did when I became yearbook adviser was to interview students who had been involved in the process before me. I sat down with my new yearbook staff (which included those who had some experience) and we went through several years of books to decide what we thought worked and what didn’t, and made notes of what we wanted going forward.” — Rachel White, Cherokee Christian Schools

How to Generate Sales

“I like to print perforated, blank business cards with our yearbook sales info, then hand them out to students and families. With these handy, portable cards, my yearbook staff—whose first names and last initials all appear on the card—can generate buzz or initiate conversations about sales by handing them out to classmates and friends. At Meet-the-Teacher Night, registration or other family/school events, I always have a stack handy.” —Kevin Worley, Northgate Middle School The best part of getting yearbook tips like this from advisers? Putting them to use, of course. Remember: advice comes from experience. It took these advisers time to figure out what works (and what doesn't) for their schools' yearbooks. The same will probably be the same for you, but these yearbook tips can give you a head start on solving any challenge you may face.

Some days, you’re so deep into the pages of your yearbook that you can’t figure out how to solve a problem staring you in the face. That’s when you need yearbook examples from other schools. School yearbook examples can be the single best tool in your arsenal when it comes to helping you solve design problems, find fresh story ideas and layout treatments, and build a library of best practices. It’s one of the reasons Pinterest has become a super-hot resource for yearbook ideas. The problem with Pinterest (and any other “lookbook” approach), though, is that you’re never going to get a full yearbook. And you’re certainly never going to get it in print. Both those factors mean you’re missing out on a lot; namely, context and the ability to easily revisit. Why not, then, build up a library of yearbook examples from a bunch of other schools? It’s a tried-and-true approach at some of the best school yearbook programs across the country, and it’s really easy to do on your own. You just need to know where to look and who to ask. Inside this post, we’ll walk you through the reasons you should be getting your hands on other schools’ yearbook examples and how you can go about doing it.

Why You Should Be Getting Your Hands on School Yearbook Examples

We already hinted at the big reasons for grabbing yearbook samples from other schools, but let’s take a second to make it super clear. You can’t beat having a whole book, in all its context, right in front of you. Think about it: You don’t release your yearbook one spread at a time on Pinterest for your students, do you? Of course not. You give them the whole thing, in all its printed glory, because that’s what the yearbook is all about. Each page and spread builds on the other to create a story of the entire school year. While learning how other schools shape their yearbook’s narrative is reason enough to collect yearbook examples, there are others, too. Let’s explore six of them:

• Find new design ideas. It’s a lot easier to have your yearbook team work through design problems and find inspiration when you have some great examples sitting in the same room as with them. And we’re not just talking about spread designs. Other schools’ yearbooks can serve as a way to work through design issues related to everything, including mods, folios, and section breaks—with the added benefit of seeing how those designs complemented theme development, were used as templates throughout the book, etc..
• Spot trends that fit your book. A new yearbook trend seems to pop up every year. Keeping track of them can be hard, and figuring out which ones are best for your yearbook can be even harder. It’s easier to spot them—and know which ones you like—when you have a library full yearbook samples from other schools.
• Identify story angles and themes. You might not know the students featured in other schools’ yearbooks, but that doesn’t matter much. They can still be a goldmine for identifying story angles, themes, and everything else that goes into shaping your yearbook’s narrative. Granted, you won’t use this stuff verbatim, but it’ll help you and your team look at your yearbook a little differently.
• Develop best practices. If you’re lucky enough to collect a bunch of yearbook samples that your team aspires to recreate, you’ve just found the ultimate resource for developing best practices. Gather those books, ask students to find commonalities among key aspects of the yearbook, and list them out. Use that as your guide for creating your own, best-of-the-best yearbook.
• Create new takes on old features. Some features, like table of contents and superlatives, are practically synonymous with the yearbook. But that doesn’t mean they need to be treated like status quo. In fact, a lot of schools have stopped doing that. Using your library of yearbooks as examples, you can find those refreshing approaches and draw inspiration to create your own.
• Practice critiques without hurting feelings. Teaching your yearbook team how to conduct critiques is important, but it’s not always easy when the only yearbook you have on hand is your own. It can be hard to be honest when you’re worried about insulting your friend’s work, and having yearbook samples can ease that tension and give everyone a safe place from which to practice critiques. Do that, and the actual critiques your team does will be that much easier and that much more effective.

If these reasons aren’t enough, well, here’s one more for you: Collecting yearbook examples can connect you with other yearbook advisers, volunteers, and students you would have never otherwise met. Those connections, which could become totally awesome friendships or just people to give you advice and listen to your yearbook problems, can be worth more than any of the other reasons listed above.

How to Get Yearbook Examples From Other Schools

So, here’s how you can actually get your hands on yearbook samples from other schools:

• PTA/PTSA Meetings: Every PTA and PTSA is full of involved, invested parents. Some even create the yearbook. Start asking around at county-level or regional-level meetings to build yearbook connections and swap books with other schools in your area. Even if the PTA or PTSA doesn’t run the yearbook, they’ll be able to connect you to the person at the school who does.
• Principal Groups: Most principals meet in groups, whether it’s part of a school district’s requirements or a professional development opportunity. Before they go to their next meetup, have your principal ask his or her existing connections to bring a copy of their schools’ yearbooks, so you can have them. It’s an easy way to collect a bunch all at once. (Just be sure to give your principal enough books that he or she can return the favor.)
• State Associations: While most yearbook advisers likely know JEA and NSPA, the national scale of those organizations might be intimidating to some. Instead, look to your local scholastic journalism associations at the state level. These organizations can be less intimidating, and are focused solely on your helping schools in your state. Check out this list to find your state organization.
• Social Media: You’d probably be surprised at how many friends and family can be in a position to help you. And how many other people out there would be willing to help. Put out a request on Facebook or Twitter, and you’re likely to get dozens of offers for help. And don’t forget about LinkedIn. Nearly 6,000 people list themselves there as being elementary, middle, and high school yearbook advisers and volunteers.

Getting great yearbook examples for your yearbook team isn’t hard. You just need to know where to look and who to ask. Start following our tips, and you’ll quickly build a library of books that’ll help you solve design problems, find inspiration, and create a better book overall.

Like retro trends themselves, what goes into a throwback yearbook theme gets updated (can we call it updated?) every few years. Because those trends are usually rooted in fashion or pop culture, they can take a good amount of creativity to link back to your throwback yearbook theme.  Right now, though, there’s one retro trend that fits the yearbook perfectly, without making any adjustments or working hard to make a creative connection: the laser photo background. Yup, you read that right. We’re talking about that 80s-style school photo backdrop emblazoned with neon lines and electric bursts, because they’re back, and they’re pretty meme-tastic. Don’t believe us? Do a quick Google search and you’ll be bombarded with some amazingly awkward glamour shots. While we don’t advocate purposely creating cringe-worthy student portraits for your yearbook, we do suggest you find a few ways to fit this retro trend into your throwback yearbook theme (funny yearbook superlatives, anyone?). Keep reading to learn where laser photo backgrounds came from, where to find them today, and how to create your own.

A Brief History on the Laser Photo Background

The laser photo background was all the rage in the 1980s, when many school portraits featured backdrops crisscrossed with bright, glowing lights. Back then it was totally stylish—and not at all ironic. The fad faded (or fizzled, if you will) and was banished to old yearbooks and family photo albums until 2007. That’s when a blogger posted this photo, titled “Me in ‘91”. It was, up to that point, the first laser photo background on the blog, which described itself as being dedicated to “the celebration of the perfect portrait.” (There is, in case you’re wondering, some sarcasm involved there.) Pretty much everybody sharing the image and basking in its cheesy glory essentially made that single portrait a meme before memes were even popular. The following year, a Tumblr blog called “We have Lasers!” debuted and—yup, you guessed it—it was dedicated entirely to school portraits with a laser photo background. As Lindsey Weber, the blog’s creator wrote in it’s “About” section: “You begged your mom to pay the extra $4. A tribute to the greatest school photo backdrop there ever was.” To say “We have Lasers!” took off would be an understatement: People submitted more than 500 portraits to be featured on the blog in less than two years, and the blog was featured on NPR, CNN, Time, and CBS News. Quickly, laser photo backgrounds went from meme to viral to mainstream. Popular sites, such as Awkward Family Photos and BuzzFeed, began featuring compilations of people posed in front of the iconic background. Even celebrities began recreating laser photo background images as spoofs (re: this picture of former 98 Degrees frontman, Nick Lachey). The Internet was, and in a lot of ways still is, in a laser-photo frenzy. So, how do you pull this trend into your throwback yearbook theme?

Where to Find—And How To Use—Laser Photo Backgrounds in Your Throwback Yearbook Theme

There are two places to find laser photo backgrounds:

• Buy an actual laser photo backdrop, in the form of a poster, online at Zazzle.com.
• Use this free laser photo background, created by Emily Coxe.

The poster at Zazzle.com comes in a bunch of different sizes. Deciding which size to buy is based pretty much entirely on deciding how you’re going to use it. So, before you pull the trigger and shell out a few bucks for a bit of nostalgia, think through your use cases and make sure you order the right one for your needs. The easiest way to do that? Do a test run of your photo shoot by placing your subjects against a plain wall and marking off the various poster sizes with painter’s tape. When you frame up your shot, pay attention to which size poster markings are inside the viewfinder, and order the next size up. If the idea of planning out your photo shoots and spending cash has you feeling a little bummed (and, hey, we get it; we make creating a yearbook free for schools), you can always work a little Photoshop magic. Really, if you have some super-creative students or parent volunteers on your yearbook committee who know their way around Photoshop’s masking tool, this is the way to go. In fact, even if you don’t have someone like that on your yearbook committee, but you have someone who is willing to give new stuff a try, this is the way to go. Because you can even use PowerPoint to do this. Here’s how to add a laser background (or any background, really) to a photo in Photoshop:

1. Choose your image. A picture with a plain background is easiest to work with, so—if you have control over this—have your subject stand in front of a plain wall or against the side of a building to capture some natural light.
2. Mask it. In Photoshop, use the pen tool to mask the person in the image. (Learn more about masking here.) You can also use more sophisticated Photoshop techniques, depending on how precise you want the image to appear. If you’re new to Photoshop, however, we recommend sticking to the basics.
3. Insert the background. Drag and drop, or copy and paste, the laser background of your choice. Size and position, save your image, and you’re good to go.

Here’s how to add a background to a photo in PowerPoint:

1. Add your image to a PowerPoint slide. Again, a picture with a plain background is easiest to work with.
2. Use the “Remove Background” feature. When you upload a photo in PowerPoint, your toolbar should automatically reset to display the “Format Picture” options that are available. You’ll want to be on that section of the toolbar, so make sure you’re there. Then, under the “Adjust” settings, choose “Remove Background.” PowerPoint guides you through the process from there, and it’s super simple.
3. Insert the background. Once you upload the background, you’ll want to size it appropriately and position it, like you did in Photoshop. Make sure you adjust your layers, so that the background is in the back. You can do that by finding the “Arrange” section in the “Format Picture” toolbar, and using the “Reorder” feature.
4. Save your image, but be sure to save your image as a .png, .jpg, or .gif file, and not a PowerPoint file.

That’s all there is to it. Not bad, right? Adding (or should we say “beaming”?) laser photo backgrounds into your throwback yearbook theme will totally put you in touch with today’s retro trends. It’ll also add a bit of irony and hipster style to your book, and we totally endorse that more than we endorse some of the other trends that are making comebacks.