Treering Blog

[caption id="attachment_4072" align="aligncenter" width="508"] Sometimes unforeseen circumstances might delete your photo files.
Photo credit: Flickr CC user Daniel Morrison[/caption]   These days we have the ability to take thousands of photos with the simple click of a button. With digital cameras and smartphones getting more sophisticated every year, everyone can now capture every magical moment a hundred times over. However, it can all come crashing down–literally–with one wrong click. Back in the day, we only had film negatives to fall back on if things went awry during production. I remember several late nights pouring over hundreds of negatives to try to see if I could hunt down the right one. Squinting and trying not to expose them to too much light, my fellow staffers, and I would jump for joy when we found the right batch. Thankfully students today will never have to experience this frustration. There are many different ways you can backup ALL your files–photos, word docs, everything–and not pull all your hair out in the process. To ensure all of your student’s hard work doesn’t accidentally get deleted forever, install a backup plan into each assignment. Make sure to teach your students how to save their photos and word documents in multiple locations so no one is freaking out when they’re up against a deadline, and they can’t find their photo files. Here are some ways you can backup your precious yearbook photo files and not lose any sleep in the process:

• Online backup – Saving photos to online sites like Flickr or Shutterfly means your photos are safe somewhere on the internet. You can set up a private account with limited access to the yearbook staff so outside sources cannot steal or use your images without your permission. You can also create a Dropbox account and store and share files that way as well. You can even create a special yearbook Facebook account and tag photos on there too–just make sure to adjust your settings to private so others can’t see what you’re working on.
• External drives – When in doubt, download your photo files to an external hard drive. You can download and save as many as you want, ensuring that the files aren’t just in the hands of one student. It’s quick, painless, and instantly takes the pressure off of one person. Make sure you clearly label all your photos on your computer before you download them to the external drive so whoever is working on the next feature knows exactly where to find them.
• Hard copies – Call me old fashioned, but I’m a big fan of paper. If you’re really worried about losing files, you can always print out hard copies of the photos in question and file them away. Visual prints can also help jog your memory when you’re physically laying out designs. You can print them out on your classroom printer or send your files to a company that can print them out for you.

What backup plan do you have in place for your photo files? Have you ever lost important photos due to a computer crash or other disaster? I would love to hear about your experiences in the comment box below.

[caption id="attachment_4026" align="aligncenter" width="586"] Create a system in your classroom to help organize assignments.
Photo credit: Flickr CC user Enokson[/caption] As the school’s yearbook adviser, you have a unique job--you get to create a yearbook. Not only are you a teacher, but you’re also responsible for publishing a giant book each year that captures every magical moment of the students’ school experience. Making sure the yearbook goes out without a hitch is a tough job, but you’re not alone–you have a whole classroom of students there to help you along the way. Although many of them might be a little green when it comes to interviewing, graphic design, and all the other aspects of putting a book together, they all bring a talent to the table. It’s your job to make sure these talents shine through on every page.

No Do-Overs on Yearbooks: The Importance of Getting It Right the First Time

Yearbook class is also different than other classes because the student’s homework assignments aren’t the same. If you forget to turn a piece in, you might not have a chance to redo it. Students have to go above and beyond to make the yearbook great by putting in extra hours outside of class and possibly on weekends. That’s why delegating assignments is so important. You’ll always have some students who are eager to take on EVERY assignment and story while others might only be able to handle one or two per quarter or are more interested in doing layouts. Yearbook is about participation and the finished product. The journey to this finished product could be an interesting one and things might not go the way you planned as a teacher, but that doesn’t mean they happened the wrong way. Like I said before, yearbook staffers are still learning and the lessons they learn will be right there on the pages of the yearbook for all to see. When you delegate assignments, make sure things are spread out evenly among the entire class. Assign the base stories first (the ones that have to go in the yearbook no matter what, like class portraits and quotes, facility photos, etc.) and give them to the kids that need a little more time to turn things around. Assign the more on-the-field stories (homecoming, assemblies, etc.) to a student who has proven to be reliable and can turn things around quickly. Don’t assign the entire yearbook all at once. Instead, put all of the concrete assignments on a giant whiteboard so everyone is always aware of what’s coming up and can check in at the top of every week to see if anyone needs to cover anything.

Checks, Balances, and Incentives: Delegating and Spreading Responsibility To The Yearbook Staff

Always have a backup plan and make sure every story has at least two people working on it as a sort of yearbook checks and balance system. You can also have incentives. Try offering extra credit to the students for assignments that are a tough sell like events that must be covered on the weekends or that go late into the night. How do you delegate all of your yearbook assignments? Do you find it difficult for students to stick to their deadlines and responsibilities? I would love to hear some of your strategies in the comment box below.

[caption id="attachment_3990" align="aligncenter" width="541"] The newspaper still goes out every morning even if someone misses a deadline--the same goes for the yearbook!
Photo credit: Flickr CC user Jon S[/caption]   Sometimes overseeing the yearbook and all of its moving parts is so fun that we forget that we’re advisers and not one of the student staffers. Let’s face it, preserving memories is rewarding on so many levels with the grand prize being the look of excitement on kids’ faces when they pick up their freshly-bound yearbook. However, it’s not always fun and games. Every once in a while you might get a student or two who isn’t as gung-ho about creating a memory book as you are and might casually brush off an assignment or two. That’s when you have to come in and enforce your deadline policy–no matter what the student’s excuse is this time around. Like all things in the publishing world, a yearbook must be a tightly run ship with no lazy crew members on board if it's to get it out to the printers and back in the students’ hands by the end of the year. With so many students and faculty to interview, pages to design, and events to cover, it’s crucial that everyone in the class carries their weight and follows through on their assignments. Missing their deadline doesn’t just affect their class grade–that missed assignment means other students miss out on their moment to shine in the yearbook. Sure, you might be able to reschedule an interview with your school football coach, but missing fans reactions to the big homecoming game? There’s no time machine to jump into to make things right again. That’s why it’s important to set realistic deadlines and abide by them, and that you’re ready to follow up with consequences if the deadlines are not met. Being able to weed out the passionate from the passive might be a little easier if your school requires certain benchmarks to be passed in order to participate in the yearbook elective. For example, at my high school you had to have a certain GPA and take an edit test to even be considered. But it’s a little harder if you have no say in who is on the team. To ensure everyone is held accountable for their assignments there are a few best practices you can put into place with your students.

• In the tech world many engineers and product managers hold daily SCRUM or stand-up meetings. These meetings are short and sweet (no more than 10 minutes) and everyone has a chance to go around and briefly discuss what they’re working on and what assignments they have coming up. These meetings let other teams know what productions are coming up and hold the person accountable.
• Depending on your class size, you might want to consider weekly or bi-weekly check-ins with each student. During this time, they can go over their deadlines, discuss any issues they have with assignments in progress, or let you know if they can’t cover an event any more.
• Have a backup plan. Make sure you have several students on call to cover an after-school event like a basketball game or school dance just in case the primary reporter can no longer cover it. It's probably best to look for the most dependable students for the on call team--the students who are looking to go into publishing or writing as professions would be good candidates for on call.
• If a student misses two or more deadlines, pull them from active yearbook duty. Instead, put them to work on projects in-house during the class period instead. You can also come up with ways for them to make up for the failed assignment and pitch new ideas in their place.

How do you handle student staff members who constantly miss their deadlines? I would love to hear your different strategies in the comment box below.

With a new school year comes fresh faces popping up in your high school halls and on the yearbook committee. While some students have been friends since kindergarten, others are new to town or just entering their freshman year and have yet to figure out the lay of the land. Oftentimes, the yearbook committee has to work closely with each other in order to meet deadlines and cover after-school activities like swim meets, drama club productions, and fundraisers. That's why it's so important for the team to get to know each other quickly, so they're able to work closely together and produce an amazing yearbook for the student body. Here are five great icebreakers to do with the yearbook team during their first meeting. Not only will it help people get to know each other better, but it gives everyone an opportunity to share their goals and expectations for the upcoming school year: 1. The Name Game It's hard to work with someone if you don't even know their name! Start off class by playing a memory name game to help introduce everyone to each other. Have the first person start off by saying their name, grade, and one word to describe their personality. Then have the next person in line say back what they just heard and add their own facts. Go around the circle one full time and see how far people can go before they forget a fact. 2. Fun Fact Guessing Game Before class begins, ask everyone to write a fun fact about themselves down on a piece of paper. Hand out a paper with everyone's name on it and read the fun fact out loud. Have students guess who the fact is about and write their answer down next to the person's name. At the end of class, tally up who got the most right and reveal whose fun fact matches up with who and let them share the story behind it. 3. Two Truths and a Lie For this game, everyone says two things about themselves that are true and one that's a lie. Students then have to guess which fact is not accurate. You can also play a classroom-friendly version of "Never Have I Ever…" where everyone starts with 10 fingers up. Each student takes a turn revealing something they've never done. (Examples: "Never have I ever been skydiving" or "Never have I ever ridden on a train.") The kids who have done the activity put one finger down. The first person to put all their fingers down "wins." Learning these interesting tidbits about each other helps you get to know each other quickly. 4. School Trivia It's important for the yearbook committee to know what's going on at their school. Come up with a quick quiz covering everything from your school mascot to football stats and have the students take a stab at how much they know. It's a great way to open up discussion about what's important to your student body and what type of legacy you want to leave behind with this year's yearbook. 5. Spider Web  For this activity, everyone gets in a circle and one person starts by holding a spool of yarn. Have them say their name and what they hope to get out of their time working on the yearbook, then have them toss it to another person in the circle. By the end of the exercise, the yarn will have made a cool spider web design that everyone can break out of together. Any of these games above will help everyone learn interesting stories about each other, memorize everyone's names, and generally "break the ice" so people can get to know each other quickly.

The best way to fill your school’s yearbook with hilarious anecdotes, memorable quotes, and cultural relevance is to ask your students the right yearbook interview questions. Great questions can unearth great stories from seemingly the most "boring" places, give you a fresh perspective on an old, tired subject matter, and quickly highlight for you the biggest trends among your student body. But you can't do that with boring, binary questions. Yes or no answers are only compelling en mass and repurposed as visuals. They lack the idiosyncrasies and personality that make a yearbook come to life. To get the right results, your yearbook interview questions need to be open ended. They need to force people to explain their answers. They also need to have a purpose. Inside this post, we'll walk you through the three types of yearbook interview questions and how you can use each. Then, we'll get to the good stuff: 75 ready-made questions you can use to interview students and improve your yearbook. Right now. Still unsure of what to ask your students? Looking for a place to get started? We’ve got you covered.

What Types of Yearbook Interview Questions Really Work?

There are three types of questions you should be asking in student interviews: surveys, anecdotes, fishing for quotes. Survey These are the lifeblood of your book. Questions can range from “what was the song of the year?” to “which member of your class would win the presidential election?”. These are fun questions, great for putting students at ease, for building trust before asking them to share personal opinions and anecdotes. Anecdote Here, you’re looking for stories. Once a student is comfortable (after you’ve asked survey questions), you’ll want to ask questions that will elicit elaborate responses chocked full of personality. The more long winded, the better (they can be culled). Asking for anecdotes won’t just give you unique insights from the student perspective: it’ll give you insight as to the events that demand more coverage from yearbook staff, too. Fishing for Quotes Distilling your school’s most important events into tweet-length bits gives your yearbook some punch. It’s likely many of them will be hilarious, not serious and that’s okay: quotes don’t have to be profound, they just need to capture moments. Who knows: maybe a student will say something that perfectly captures your school’s milieu this year. Whatever you do: avoid yes or no questions at all costs. Binary questions devalue opinions in favor of convenience; only the most gregarious students will overshare. You want your yearbook to be diverse, offering as many different personalities as it possibly can.

Yearbook Interview Questions: A Complete List

Without any context, your yearbook is just a photo album. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Pictures are great. They’re absolutely the first things students will look at. But aside from a few amazing images, they're not the stuff people are going to talk about. It’s the written context—the stuff people read and learn when they open the book—that really resonates. To get that, you need yearbook interview questions that will get your students, teachers, coaches, and administrators to open up. Here are 75, separated by category, to get you started: High School Student Life

1. Do you drive to school? What was your most listened to driving song on your morning commute this year?
2. Which school tradition are you most proud of?
3. Would students be more productive if cell phones were banned during school hours?
4. What’s your favorite school lunch?
5. Should the school have (or keep) vending machines?
6. Do you think an open campus is a good idea?
7. What’s your most embarrassing in-school memory? What happened and did you learn anything from it?
8. Which event did you most look forward to this year? Did it live up to expectations?
9. You can bring any three of your classmates on a cross-country road trip in your family’s hatchback: who would you choose and why?
10. If you could get rid of the bells between classes, would you? Why?
11. How did you decorate your locker this year?
12. How do you avoid participating in gossip? What do you do if there’s gossip about you?

Elementary School Student Life

1. Which event at field day was the most fun?
2. What was the coolest art project you did this year?
3. If your school grew and maintained its own vegetable garden, what would you want to grow?
4. If you could plan a field trip anywhere for next year, where would you want to go?
5. How do you like to read? (physical books, Kindle, etc.)
6. What’s your favorite kind of juice?
7. If you and your friends could do any activity after school today, what would it be?
8. What’s the best game or sport that you play in gym class? Why is it so fun?
9. What’s your favorite school snack?
10. If you could choose any animal for a class pet, what would it be?

Sports

1. Which team’s games are the most fun to attend? Why?
2. If you could have the pep band play one song at games, what would it be?
3. Describe your crosstown rivalry in one (appropriate) word...
4. Which sport does the school need to add next year?
5. If anyone in your class would be on ESPN, who would it be?
6. What was the most memorable school sporting event of the year?
7. How does playing X impact your academic performance?
8. What life-lesson(s) did you learn playing X?
9. Will you try to play X in college?
10. Would you ever consider coaching?

Clubs

1. Do you think participation in extracurricular activities should be required by the school?
2. If your club was given an unlimited budget to throw an event for the school, what would you plan?
3. Should video games be considered a sport? Which games? Would you join a school eSports team?
4. If you could create one new club for next year, what would it be?
5. Who’s the best club adviser?
6. Where does your club meet? Do you use any school resources other than space? How could the school provide more support for your club?
7. Which plays should the school produce next year? Would you audition if it was something you liked?

Academics

1. If you could choose any artistic medium and give it a dedicated course, what would it be?
2. The jobs you will have one day don’t even exist yet: what kinds of skills do you think you might need to succeed?
3. Least memorable United States President?
4. Are there enough foreign language options? If not, what would you like to see added? Should they be required?
5. What project or assignment challenged you the most as a student? Why?
6. Most useful math equation or theory you learned this year?
7. What was the longest paper you wrote this year? Who was it for? What was it about?
8. If you could conduct any science experiment in a class, what would it be? Do you have a hypothesis ready to go?
9. What was the most enjoyable book you had to read for school this year?
10. Which subject do you think prepares you most for life after high school? Why?

Pop Culture

1. Which TV show is most talked about in the hallways?
2. What would you be SO embarrassed to be seen wearing (but secretly love)?
3. Which meme/gif did you use most frequently this year?
4. Which movie that came out this year would you be most embarrassed to watch with your family?
5. Which professional sports team were you most excited about this year?
6. Which presidential candidate would you vote for?
7. If you were in charge of planning a concert for the school, which three artists would you bring?

Technology

1. What’s your favorite Snapchat/Instagram filter?
2. Most social media savvy teacher?
3. How can teachers make social media part of their curricula?
4. If you could only use one emoji for the rest of high school, which would you choose? (Be sure to check these for appropriateness.) 
5. Do you have your own website? How did you make it? What do you use it for?
6. Which piece of technology has most contributed to your academic success?
7. What was the most “viral” event of the school year?
8. How would you recommend the school use its technology budget? What kinds of devices or software would you like to see available next year?
9. Would you be more likely to read or contribute to the school newspaper if it was digital?
10. What’s your favorite podcast? Is there any way teachers could incorporate it into their classrooms?

Seniors

1. If you applied, when did you start your college applications?
2. What made you decide not to go to college next year?
3. Describe your senior year in three words.
4. If you could create one mandatory course for future seniors, what would it be?
5. “I will always remember…”
6. Should there be a community service components involved in graduation (X number of hours, a project, etc.)?
7. Who was your favorite teacher throughout all of high school?
8. If you could change one school rule, what would it be?
9. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Yearbook interview questions don't need to be awesomely complicated to be awesomely insightful. If you can remember to keep your questions open-ended and purposeful, you're already two steps ahead. Try out some of our suggested yearbook interview questions or use them as inspiration to write your own. Either way, make sure to turn to your student body to find those stories, quotes, and trends that will give your yearbook context and make everything, including all those great pictures, more meaningful.

Yearbooks are for every student, not just those who attend brick-and-mortar schools. In fact, parent-led home-based education may currently be the fastest-growing form of education in the United States. That makes for a lot of memories to capture!

With the unparalleled flexibility of Treering Yearbooks, it’s never been easier for homeschool families and organizations to effortlessly create a personalized yearbook for each student, capturing the essence of their unique educational journey. We remove the guesswork and simplify the yearbook process for everyone involved. Here are a few yearbook perks that Treering offers to homeschools:

1. No hidden fees, no surprises. Our per-book price is all-inclusive, covering everything from easy-to-use software to friendly support and custom covers featuring your child’s artwork or family photo. 

2. No minimum order requirements.  Whether you only need one book or many, Treering can accommodate your needs. We’ll even provide a code so grandparents can purchase, too.

3. No contracts. You're never locked into working with us. We believe in our service, but you can walk away anytime (although we're confident you won't want to!).

4. No deadlines. Not working on a traditional timeline? Same here. Treering empowers editors with the flexibility to control and change their print-ready date at any time without incurring fees. Our three-week turnaround means you’ll receive your masterpiece in no time. 

5. No set page count. Treering allows for creating a yearbook with as few as 20 pages. You can even adjust your page count as the school year - or a fun last-minute field trip - dictates.

6. Free custom pages: If you create a book for multiple students or just one, each can become a personalized keepsake. Capture milestones, family vacations, extracurricular activities, art projects, and more inside each student's unique copy.

Discover the Ease of Treering’s Software for Homeschoolers

While all of the above advantages benefit homeschool communities, Treering’s easy-to-use software is one of our most important - and most loved - features. Our intuitive, drag-and-drop yearbook builder makes it easy to craft a beautiful yearbook. Choose from hundreds of professionally-curated themes, or unleash your creativity and design your own. 

Congratulations on becoming the adviser for your school’s yearbook committee! You should be proud of yourself. You’re about to embark on a creative and memorable journey to define your school through an iconic book. But… don’t blow out your candles just yet… you might need that wish when tackling some of the challenges presented by managing a passionate (for lack of a better word) group of students and staff. Any club or committee comes with diverse groups of people, each with their own dynamic personalities, ideas, creative juices… and of course, opinions. It will be your responsibility to oversee the group and get them to agree on not only one or two items, but a whole slew of topics that go into creating a yearbook. That party horn is a little deflated now, isn’t it? Well, fear no more – we’re here to help you through it! The key to managing a diverse group is to create an environment that is low-stress, organized, and fun. When people feel like they are part of  a team and their voice is being heard, things will go smoothly. But, you may be wondering just how to accomplish this harmonious habitat. TIPS FOR MANAGING YOUR YEARBOOK COMMITTEE

• Don’t be one of those unorganized clubs that meets at irregular or sporadic times. Create a weekly or bi-weekly meeting, same day and time, and make it known that everyone needs to attend. The most accomplished clubs are the ones that set rules and expectations up front, so people know what is coming and there are no surprises. Create a contract that each committee member will sign when they join. It can be a simple document clarifying that being a part of yearbook committee is a commitment, and they will need to put in the work. You don’t need to come off like a dictator, you can keep it light and even humorous… but everyone needs to know that you mean business.
• Create an organizational chart to facilitate a chain of command. People shouldn’t feel like there is a pecking order, but there does need to be structure. Illustrating this diagram will show connections within the group – who will be working with whom, who will have the final say, and more. To keep things diplomatic, you can hold it to a vote when assigning team leaders. There could be a leader for each part of the yearbook, such as: photography, writing, design, layout, and so on. While there may be smaller groups, make it clear that you are one entity, and make sure to bring everyone together at the weekly meetings.
• It’s important to keep everyone busy and feeling like they have something to do. The moment someone gets bored or feels undervalued is the moment things start to unravel. This can have a chain reaction, and you may start to lose focus from the entire group. People may even start to drop out of the committee. Therefore, make sure that roles and responsibilities are clear. Similarly, when people are working hard without acknowledgment, their work can start to deteriorate. Always take an interest in what each person is doing and provide positive, sincere encouragement.
• Keep attitudes in check. The only thing worse than boredom is negativity or arrogance. This book is supposed to be fun, so don’t lose sight of that. There should be no tolerance for people copping bad attitudes with one another, trying to steamroll others, or becoming bossy. This will bring the whole group down and can bring the whole yearbook down, too.
• Create a culture, not a cult, within your committee. It’s okay for people to have wild ideas or become very passionate. That shows that they care and are committed to the cause. It’s guaranteed that your committee will have some pretty lively personalities, so let them shine. What one person sees as a crazy idea might just spark some insights within the rest of the group, so keep the creative ideas coming. This can help ideas flow, and ultimately lead to a supreme yearbook. Encourage friendship and teamwork within the group. Hold a “secret Santa” during the holidays, order in food for the team on Fridays (taking time to eat together can boost your bond and make members feel appreciated), take a field trip, etc. This will help create commonalities between the committee members and will foster bonding, which can only help your end product.
• Try your best for retention. Not everyone in the committee will be graduating seniors, so when you find a good group, try to hold onto them. Boost participation from year-to-year. Use strong committee members as a source of marketing material. Word-of-mouth is very popular in school, so encourage them to tell their peers about yearbook. Hold a meeting toward the end of the school year where you personally meet with students and talk about yearbook committee. You can make it more of a “party,” pass out food, prizes, play music… keep it interesting and fun.

There will always be challenges with any activity that draws distinctive groups of people. Make sure to stay organized and focused… you are the leader and will set the example for everyone. Nurture continuity, creativity, and cooperation and you’ll do great!

It takes a lot of work and resources to pull together a yearbook that gets everyone talking (in a good way). You need to cover all the right events, get enough photos, sell advertising space, create a consistent design … and do it all with a yearbook committee that is often made up of a small group of volunteers. Talk about overwhelming. That’s why putting the right team in place is so critical. By selecting the right people for the right yearbook committee positions, you can avoid many of the common challenges that cause headaches and hiccups during the yearbook creation process.

Here are the yearbook challenges you can solve just by filling these yearbook committee positions:

The challenge: Your yearbook committee has a lot of volunteers … but not a lot of direction.   The solution: Editor-in-Chief. Newspapers. Magazines. Media websites. All large publications have an Editor-in-Chief position – and for good reason. An Editor-in-Chief is charged with overseeing the entire publication. It’s his or her responsibility to bring together all the pieces that make your yearbook great. Things like coordinating with the yearbook production company, the portrait studios, various school departments and student organizations, plus keeping the publication on time and on budget. The role requires organization, perseverance … and more than a little patience. Having an Editor-in-Chief on your yearbook committee gives you one point of contact for all questions and issues, which will help simplify the process and keep everyone on task. The challenge: You have an Editor-in-Chief, but he/she is completely overwhelmed. The solution: Assistant Editor. The Editor-in-Chief position can quickly become overwhelming (and undesirable) if there’s no support surrounding it. That’s where an Assistant Editor comes in. The Assistant Editor can help the Editor-in-Chief by taking on important tasks related to the publication itself, such as making sure the yearbook has a consistent look and feel throughout, and that it reflects your school’s unique spirit. By giving your Editor-in-Chief a person to lean on throughout the process, you will improve the ways the entire yearbook committee functions. The challenge: You want your yearbook to capture each important moment of the school year, but there are so many events and activities to cover. The solutions: Photographer(s) + Journalist(s). While it will be impossible to attend every game, competition, match or meeting in a school year, having dedicated Photographers and Journalists on your yearbook committee can help you cover your bases (literally!). Photographers should, of course, have skills and interest in photography. But they must also be willing to attend a variety of events to take candid photos. The same applies to Journalists. These committee members should be comfortable interviewing students, parents and staff, and they should plan on attending multiple school events. To keep your Photographers and Journalists on task, create a schedule of your school’s bigger events and assign committee members to cover each one. Struggling to recruit people who will be available for these roles year-round? You can always crowd-source photographs and stories from attendees who don't have set yearbook committee positions: if you know someone reliable who is attending an event, ask them to be your photographer or journalist for the day. The challenge: Your budget is tight, and your school administration/PTA could use a few extra bucks for activities. The solution: Ad Salespeople. Selling advertising is a standard (but important) part of creating your school yearbook. Yet when ad sales are everyone’s job, the actual selling can feel like no one’s job. Make yearbook committee members accountable for this task by giving them the role of Ad Salesperson. Ad Salespeople will be responsible for selling ads to parents, local businesses and community members. They can help answer any questions the advertisers may have, and help with ad layout in the final yearbook. The challenge: Your yearbook content comes from a variety of school sources, and there is no consistent style. The solution: Copy Editor. Getting a bunch of people to find and tell stories from a bunch of different school departments and organizations is awesome -- but it might make your yearbook content feel disconnected. A strong Copy Editor can fix that. The Copy Editor role not only requires keen grammar, spelling and punctuation skills, but also creative storytelling abilities. Choose someone who enjoys writing and who understands your school community and the stories that are important to tell. The challenge: You’re struggling to pull your yearbook content together into a final, professional format. The solutions: Layout Editor + Graphic Designers. The visual consistency of your yearbook is just as important as the consistency of the words on the page. Compiling an entire year of events and activities takes time – and design skills. And a Layout Editor and Graphic Designers can make the process much more efficient. The Layout Editor will take all of your yearbook material and do what the name implies – lay it out into a design that flows from one page to the next. The Layout Editor can also handle any graphic design elements, or you can have other committee members help in this area. (Learn more about yearbook design, layout and style in our free guide: “The Definitive Guide to Yearbook Design.”) The challenge: Your yearbook is over budget … wait, is it? You’re not sure, since there are so many expenses and sales to monitor. The solution: Treasurer. While the Editor-in-Chief has some responsibility over the budget, a Treasurer can help keep track of daily costs and income. The Treasurer will monitor sales, advertisements and any other costs associated with yearbook creation. This way, you will always have an answer when someone inevitably asks, “Are we on budget?” The challenge: Your yearbook is done! Hooray! Now you just need people to buy it … The solution: Marketers. Yearbook creation is often so all-consuming that it’s easy to forget about a critical piece that must happen during production: marketing. Marketers are one of your most important yearbook committee positions. They help spread the word about your yearbook while it’s being created, and promote it once it’s finalized. This can be by creating promotional materials like flyers and emails, or through fun and creative guerrilla marketing tactics. It’s the marketers’ job to get everyone excited about the amazing publication you just devoted your time, resources and heart into creating. If you stick to these yearbook committee positions, recruit like heck, and use a yearbook staff application or yearbook committee sign-up form, you'll end up with a well-rounded, highly motivated team that's ready to tackle any challenge that's thrown your way.

Capturing the spirit of a school year within the pages of the yearbook is an art form, and like any craft, it requires a carefully constructed framework. The good news? It doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. Let’s break it down into three easy steps: 

Yearbook Planning Step 1: Assemble your A-list

By nature, the yearbook creation process is interactive and collaborative. “Resourceful recruitment” is essential to building a cohesive team that highlights individual strengths. Whether you’re canvasing the school with “help wanted” posters or handing out yearbook staff applications, be sure to cast a wide net and consider these five specific personality types while curating your dream team.

Once you have staff members in place who are committed and excited to get started, you’ll want to elicit the best from each to maximize potential. With clear roles and responsibilities designed to cater to each group member’s expertise, you’ll allow for better overall communication and conflict resolution while enhancing individual growth. The outcome is a yearbook that shines as brightly as your star-studded team.

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

Yearbook Planning Step 2: Leverage Your Ladder

Imagine your yearbook ladder as the “visual Post-it note” guiding your narrative. This blueprint outlines the content for each spread and serves as a compass for your team. Use it to determine the book’s length, prioritize ideas for sections and stories, allocate space, and track - or change - the deadlines you’ve set for yourself. Even better, your ladder doubles as a reminder of your yearbook’s ultimate vision.

So gather the school calendar and past yearbooks, and embark on a ladder-constructing journey with your team. You can download a free one right here! 

https://blog.treering.com/need-yearbook-ladder-planning-efforts/

Yearbook Planning Step 3: Calculate Your Page Count

Determining your yearbook’s page count is something important that you can quickly check off your to-do list (and doesn’t that feel great?). Schools typically rely on two methods to determine this: enrollment statistics (here’s a helpful guideline) and the yearbook ladder. We generally advocate for the latter as it offers a more nuanced approach tailored to your school's unique character. Additionally, schools that partner with Treering can increase or decrease their page count as the school year evolves. 

https://blog.treering.com/yearbook-page-count/

Laying the groundwork using these three steps will help kick off a successful yearbook experience each year while making the process streamlined for everyone involved. And lastly, don’t forget our unofficial, but equally critical, Yearbook Planning Step 4: Put the “Fun” in “Fundamentals.” Keep class engagement high by fostering a sense of lighthearted joy. Sharing laughs = happy staff!

Picture day can be stressful for students – finding the perfect outfit, getting hair just right, smiling on cue.  Plus, by the time the photographer poses you at an angle, shoulders back, head turned, eyes to the side, and grinning like an idiot… you’re exhausted and the picture comes out looking… well, interesting.  Add on the fact that professional portraits are no small expense, and it’s enough to make anyone want to forfeit the day all together. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="410"] Yearbook portraits can come out awkward between the phony background, smiling stress, and inadequate lighting. Image source: Flickr user David Schiersner[/caption] This year, try something new by having students do the photography!  It will be a great way to refresh the old picture day, and get everyone involved.  It is beneficial on a variety of levels.  Students will feel comfortable with who is taking the picture, and in turn, will loosen up.  Students interested in photography will have a chance to practice and refine their craft.  And, parents can purchase digital copies directly from the school – raising money for the yearbook, and allowing them to customize what prints they want and how many. It’s simple.  With all of the digital camera options available today, the device pretty much takes the picture for you.  However, there is one thing that is still a struggle for most photographers – the light.  No matter how well you set up a picture, the right light can make or break a great yearbook photo. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="410"] Windows can be a great source for light. Lighting from the side helps cast just the right amount of shadow on a subject. Image source: Flickr user Tim (Timothy) Pearce[/caption] But worry no more; we are here to shine some light on the subject of luminescence.  Understanding these lighting facts will help you set up even the most worrisome, rigid subject, and set you in motion for the perfect yearbook photo.

-       Broad light, like that from a window, will produce a softer light.  This will create less shadow, but will also reduce contrast and texture.  If you are looking to use a window as your light source, position the student in front of one that doesn’t receive direct sunlight.

 -       Soft light will also come the closer the subject is to the light source.  If you are using lamps to light the set, position them in a manner that will be close enough to fully light your subject, but not wash them out.

-       If you are looking to achieve that soft light, but your source isn’t providing it – diffuse.  A cheap solution for windows is using a sheer white curtain.  If you don’t have a scrim for lamps, use gauze or some type of translucent, textured material.

 -       You don’t have to shine the light directly on your subject.  You can bounce it off of a wall or piece of white poster board to reflect and diffuse the light.  If you want to add some sparkle, crumble a sheet of aluminum foil, pull it out, and wrap it around a piece of poster board… then bounce the light off of it.

 -       If you want to achieve a darker background and really bring the attention to your subject, use a window to front-light the person and keep them as close as possible to the light source.

-       Keep in mind that front lighting will understate texture.  If you want to emphasize the texture, light from the side or from below.

-       Light from above, below, or to the side will cast shadows on your subject… and this isn’t a bad thing.  If you are going for a more dramatic portrait, position a light high above, slightly off-center of your subject, and then tilt it down.

Also,  if you decide to shoot pictures outside, such as senior portraits, understand the basics of outdoor lighting:

-       Dawn will give a blue-light effect, and not cast any shadows.

-       Sunrise will cast long shadows of warm color, adding interest to the picture.

-       Morning light is very neutral and good for shooting until midday.

-       Midday is the worst time to shoot as the sun is high in the sky, and will cast dark shadows on the subject – sometimes even making people’s eyes look black.

-       Afternoon shooting is similar to the morning, but with warmer colors.

-       Sunset is okay, but must be timed just right as the best light does not last long.  It is, however, great for silhouette shooting.

-       Dusk will offer rich colors – transitioning from blues and purples, to orange and brown.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="553"] An outdoor setting can be very affective for unique lighting and color. Image source: Cristian Bortes[/caption] Let students guide the kind of portraits they want to take.  Some may want more of the “Hollywood” dramatic shots (high light, casting shadows), others may choose to be simply lit with soft window light, while the rest may want to get outdoors and add color to their pictures!  Having students participate in the creative process will bring about entertaining, interesting yearbook photos.  After all, the plan is to get away from those previously rigid portraits, and bring excitement to the student yearbook photos! Do you have any helpful tips and tricks for lighting yearbook photos?  We'd love to hear about them in the comments section below.

Senior Appreciation Day - or Senior Escort Day, as my school lovingly referred to it - is a time-honored tradition for every senior class. It’s a great way to bring different grades together, and for the seniors to give a fun-filled, lasting contribution to the school. It’s also an excellent way to provide some serious cash flow for your yearbook! The basic premise is that underclassmen bid on different seniors that they would like as their personal servants for a day. If the underclassman is the “winner” of that particular senior, it is the duty of that senior to walk the student to every class, carry their books, take them to lunch, and whatever else the underclassman can think of. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="553"] A senior and an underclassman pose for an after-school photo.
Image source: Flickr user John Martinez Pavliga[/caption] Of course this day is not to be taken too seriously – it's a light-hearted way to raise money, have some fun, get to know the underclassmen, and grab some great yearbook content. I fondly remember saving my lunch money for an entire month, only to blow it bidding on the hottest senior guy – every year from 7th grade to junior year. But I digress… Senior Appreciation Day can be a real money-maker, depending on the thought and effort you put into it. The goal is to raise enough money to lower the price of the overall yearbook, and create some fun memories and photos to go inside. BEFORE THE EVENT The first step is picking the perfect day for the event. Ours was always Valentine’s Day, or the closest we could get to it. Because, let’s be honest, this day is a great opportunity for underclassmen to finally have the chance to actually talk to their senior crush… and what better way to exploit - ahem, I mean embrace - that than by choosing the most romantic day of the year. Once the day is determined, it’s best to start raising money for an entire month beforehand.  That way you’ll be able to build hype, competition, and hopefully more money! Set up a lunchtime booth where you have a list of all participating seniors. At the booth you’ll collect money and hand out raffle tickets. The other half of the ticket will go in the box with the underclassman’s name and homeroom, and the senior they are hoping to win. Since it’s an understanding that every senior is going to participate in the day, encourage that same cooperation when it comes to running the booth. Each day at lunch, you’ll need one to two participants to help. They should possess some level of school spirit, as they encourage every student passerby to forfeit Taco Tuesday and use their money bid on a senior slave instead. From there, the rest of the money-raising month is pretty easy. The students will start their own forms of friendly (and maybe not-so friendly) competition. And your job will be to keep all tickets and funds organized… before choosing the winners. You can do this by most money spent, or the more fair way of picking out of a hat. THE DAY OF THE EVENT When Senior Appreciation Day finally arrives, gather all the seniors before homeroom and start the day off right! Pass out a flower  to each senior to give to his or her freshman escort. Then send the seniors on their merry way with the name and homeroom of each underclassman. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="553"] A funny senior costume, complete with book-carrying sack.
Image source: Flickr user Alexandre Normand[/caption] The rest of the day will unfold into a stream of laughter, silliness, fun, and some probable shyness. Your job will be to take a swarm of pictures – this could be a huge undertaking depending on your senior class size. It will also be important to obtain quotes from each participating underclassman. Of course, you’ll have to pry them from their senior cutie long enough to get some honest answers. AFTER THE EVENT After the day of the event, you’ll have collected some great content to page together a unique part of the yearbook’s senior section. Start by including the day’s most memorable photos – they could be the “best” dressed costume, the most extravagant underclassman lunch, or a senior being forced to do a task for their underclassman. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="553"] Senior servant changing an underclassman's tire.
Image source: Flickr user USGA-Humphreys[/caption] Next, piece together memorable quotes from the underclassmen. Since the rest of the senior section is all about the seniors’ journey and how they see themselves, this will be the one chance to show the seniors how they are seen through others’ eyes. Overall, remember to incorporate all the whimsy and fun that Senior Appreciation Day brings, leaving everyone with lasting memories for years to come!

If you're frustrated by the amount of time your yearbook recruitment process takes each year, it might be time to rethink your approach. No, we're not talking about whether you should still be proving the benefits of joining the yearbook committee or whether you should be using a yearbook staff application; we're talking about where you focus your recruitment efforts in the first place. Given all the other clubs, sports, and activities students participate in, assembling your dream team might seem like ... well ... a dream. But, if you get strategic about your yearbook recruitment process, you'll have a better shot at pulling it off.

Where to Focus Your Yearbook Recruitment Efforts.

• Social media – They’re going to be on it 24/7, anyway, so why not reach out to students through what they love most: the Internet. Create a committee-recruiting page on Facebook, follow students on Twitter, and post pictures of past yearbooks on Instagram. You can even have some fun teachers help you create a quirky Vine video to spark interest. The more you are out there, the more buzz you’ll create throughout the school.
• Posters – Even with the rise of social media, nothing gets students’ attention more than a good-old-fashioned poster on the school walls. Create bright, colorful, straight-to-the-point posters and plaster them all over school. Write a call-to-action for the students, and encourage them to bring their creativity and leadership to the yearbook committee.
• Host an open house – Host an open house in the yearbook room. Put out past yearbooks, candid photos, and play graduation videos – getting people in the nostalgic mood. Once you have everyone there, you can talk more about the goals of yearbook and how valuable an experience it is to work on it. And don’t forget to advertise that there will be refreshments – people will do most anything for free food!
• Ask the staff – Email teachers and staff with some specific qualities you are looking for. Ask for recommendations of students they think would be good candidates for the committee. It's always helpful to have a team keeping an eye out!
• Target promising prospects – Flattery is everything, so find those students that are excelling in English, photography, graphic design, and more. Speak to each student personally, and explain that you have been impressed with his or her skills, and think they would make a great addition to the yearbook committee.
• Hold nominations – Alternatively, ask the student body to make anonymous nominations for those peers that have hidden talents. This way, students won’t have to be shy about coming forward themselves. They will be called upon by popular demand.
• Make presentations – Find other clubs or groups that possess skills essential for the yearbook – such as FBLA, spirit squad, newspaper staff, and art club. Ask to make a presentation at the next club meeting, and plead your case for why they should join the yearbook committee.
• Focus on Freshmen – Students new to high school are looking to find their footing in a new building, and a place they can call their own. So, what better way than joining what reflects the school most – the yearbook? Pitch to freshman classes and tell them all of the benefits to joining yearbook – they will meet new people, possess a voice in the school, and have a creative outlet.
• But don’t let Seniors slip away – A major portion of every yearbook is dedicated to seniors. So, pitch to every senior class that the yearbook is a reflection of them, and that their voice should be heard. If that doesn’t work, remind them that colleges love to see extracurricular activities on an application.
• Expand on the typical committee – A yearbook committee doesn’t have to be made up of student volunteers. Encourage students to do independent study in journalism, photography, graphic design, etc., and have yearbook be their credit for the course. Also, recruit staff members and teachers to the committee, and seek parent volunteers.
• Sweeten the deal – Bring out the swag bags! Hand out personalized school-themed tokens, such as pens, buttons, notebooks, and canvas bags. Get people excited about the school, and encourage them to be a part of it through yearbook.
• Don’t go it alone – Find at least one person that you think would be good at recruiting people. This could be “Miss School Spirit” or the next in line for Editor-in-Chief. Whoever it is, everything is better in pairs – so grab the right person and get them on your team.

While your yearbook recruitment efforts might still take some time, you'll likely cut down the number of hours you spending putting together your yearbook team if you know where to focus your efforts. And you'll likely end up with a better group of students, too.