Treering Blog

Your Kid. Your Design. Their Spotlight. Whether they’re sports MVPs, creative geniuses, or the kindest hearts around—we want to see it all! Share your Treering custom pages for a chance to win.

Entry Period

The submission period is April 1-15, 2025. Submissions will close at 11:59 PM PDT.

Eligibility

Entrants must be 18 years or older and current members of a US Treering school for the 2024-2025 school year.

To participate, complete the submission form and include a screenshot of your favorite yearbook spread. A yearbook spread is two-facing pages. Incomplete entries will not be accepted.

Winner Selection and Notification

A panel of yearbook parents, journalism educators, and graphic designers will select the winners. Judging criteria include visual interest and originality.

We will notify all the winners via email and phone on Monday, April 22, 2025.

Prizes

One Grand Prize winner will receive a $500 Amazon gift card, and ten Runners Up will each receive a $50 Amazon gift card.

By Friday, May 2, winners will receive gift cards via the email provided in the form.

Release

By submitting your custom pages, you have verified the approval of others pictured, and you approve Treering to use your name, write-up, and school name for any marketing purposes, including but not limited to treering.com, social media, and mass media.

Contest FAQs

We asked you to “show us what you got” and you understood the assignment. The diversity of subjects—portrait, divider, baby photo, staff, senior tributes, superlatives, arts, and athletics spreads—coupled with the styles, themes, and narratives left us inspired. 

Thank you.

It sounds cliche to say it was tough to comb through hundreds of submissions, read your stories, and examine everything from how photos were cropped to how they balanced across the spread. But you delivered quite the challenge.

A panel of yearbook and design professionals, PTA parents, and journalists looked through every submission in a blind judging. They evaluated your submissions on

• Layout design
• Storytelling
• Visual elements and their relevance to content

Grand Prize Winner: Northern High School, Durham, NC

Remember those prom dress-I’ll-know-when-I-see-it vibes? That was our impression of Northern High’s homecoming spread. It was unanimous. As soon as the panel saw this spread, “This is it.” 

The “Polaris” staff at Northern High earned ten free yearbooks, a $500 Amazon gift card, and a $200 pizza party to enjoy as a staff.

“Our goal is twofold: To show that we are all part of our school community and school culture and to illustrate that there's more to us than meets the eye,” junior Nourriah Scott said.

Their yearbook theme, “All 'N' the Details," is both traditional (check out the classic typography) while adding modern design elements. Their theme goes beyond the visual and uses the narrative to showcase all aspects of an event.

“As the viewer travels through the spread,” Scott said, “they learn there's more to it: the court, the cheerleaders, the band, the crowd. Homecoming is just a single event in the course of an entire school year, and look how many people and parts of our school are involved in making it magical.”

Why we Loved this Design:

The details emerge once you get beyond the wow factor from the colors. Homecoming is written in a font similar to a letterman’s jacket and, as the main entry point to the spread, is behind the football team. This is a student-first design.

Additionally, the use of COB (cut-out background) photos enhances the design. The yearbook team positioned the sharp edge in the gutter and used a gradient to fade out the other.

Design hierarchy also played a key role. The story crosses both pages, bolded ledes give the reader even more entry points, and candid photos highlight all the participant groups. They indeed are “All ‘N.”

Bonus: As a Title I school, the “Polaris” staff does not have access to Adobe or other paid design tools. They created their winning spread using the Treering yearbook builder and free, web-based photo editing tools.

Runners Up

For hours, we had a solid 26 spreads on display and our panel highlighted the merits of each. When we returned to the original judging criteria, five emerged. In alphabetical order by school name, the following schools each earned three free yearbooks and a $50 Amazon gift card.

Finalist: East Stroudsburg High School North, Dingmans Ferry, PA

While this isn't the first time we've seen a streaming media look, it is one of the best iterations. The team at ESHSN used the cheer individual photos to create a movie poster on the right and recapped the season as the program description. 

Across the top are the TWOLF values “intended to promote the application of knowledge, develop healthy identities and decision-making skills, achieve goals, manage emotions, show empathy, and establish healthy relationships,” Adviser Keisha Agard-Thomassine said.

Why we Loved this Design

One word: color. The school color is front and center in a spread centered around the spirit-makers. Timberwolf blue is used on the yearbook logo and as a button. The analogous purple makes it pop further.

“We beam with pride over here,” Agard-Thomassine said.

The subtle detail of the group photo in the background adds another layer of complexity to a bold and balanced spread.

Finalist: North Star Academy, Redwood City, CA

Without seeing the entire book, you know there is a strong connection to theme: the aqua and goldenrod ovals and bold typeface are evidence of a solid style guide. 

Adviser Carol Landers has a class of 30 students in grades 4-8 who help work on the book. She reserved this tribute to promoting students for herself.

Why we Loved this Design

Each eighth grader had their moment to shine with both a personality photo and a baby photo. Landers said parents contributed “photos of their students holding an object or pet or doing an activity that is important to [them].”

This highlights each student individually while using the promotion year 25 as the thread that connects them. Brilliant.

Landers employed a Google Form to solicit submissions from parents, and she’s planning ahead: “I just learned about Treering’s ‘secondary photo’ feature, so I look forward to trying that out next year.”

Finalist: Seabury Hall, Makawao, HI

“This spread is not just a collection of memories but a tribute to the dedication and creativity of Seabury Hall’s performing arts program,” designer Ethan Berry said, “preserving moments that will inspire future generations.”

Adviser Dakota Grossman is proud of Berry, a sophomore, who worked on this page solo. She said she helped in the brainstorming phase, and this is just one of his designs for Seabury Hall’s scrapbook-themed yearbook.

Why we Loved this Design:

Grossman said, “[Berry] truly paid attention to every detail—there's meaning behind every photo, graphic, and sentence on that page.”

That intentionality appears in the second, third, and fourth looks: beyond the colors, layers, and texture are student voices, photos of the cast in action, and a passionate narrative from the program director. 

Visually, it is stunning. The narrative is compelling. 

We wholeheartedly echo Grossman’s pride in Berry. 

Finalist: Vanguard Beethoven Secondary, Pharr, TX

Bright, nostalgic, and playful, this spread is a showstopper. Baby photos capture the earliest moments of every senior’s journey, making this spread a heartfelt tribute.

Why we Loved this Design:

Aguilar’s vision is to blend a traditional yearbook with a multimedia presentation for the 58 seniors on their growing campus. 

“The plan was to scatter all senior baby pictures,” Aguilar said. “I took it to the next level and created a media slideshow and have a QR [code] for everyone to view.”

It’s an elevated take on a yearbook classic. And we’re here for it.

Finalist: Washington Montessori Public Charter School, Washington, NC

Senior Cadence Mallette’s creation could not go in any yearbook. This is uniquely WMPCS. She organized the yearbook team to capture student art, photos of the school and students interacting with their environment, student quotes, and a campus map. If that were a to-do list, it would look overwhelming.

Mallard made it work.

Why we Loved this Design:

We loved the mixed-media approach to this spread. Students in grades kindergarten through 11 submitted animals that share their habitat with WMPCS. Seniors drew the school mascot, a bald eagle. The winners made it on the spread.

Adviser Meredith Loughlin said this approach “united our yearbook group members while connecting them with our local ecosystem.”

This focus on unity also made it a winner. Sometimes, K-12 communities create separate upper and lower school content. Mallette’s design gives us a picture of whole-school approach.

Honorable Mentions

Because that’s not enough yearbook design inspiration, we want to call out these brilliant designs from elementary, middle, high, charter, and home schools.

Academy Days Co-op, Alliance Ouchi-O'Donovan 6-12 Complex, Alliance Renee and Meyer Luskin, Academy High School, Alma d'arte Charter High School, American Community School, Ancheta Academy, Assumption Catholic School, Atlanta Speech School - Stepping Stones, Atsa' Biya' A'ZH Community School, Auburn Hills Christian School, Avalon Middle School, Azle Christian School, Brush Middle School, Camas Connect Academy, Carencro High, CHESS Christian School, Chesterton Elementary School, City Garden School, Classical Conversations Folsom, Coconut Creek Elementary School, Cranberry Area High School, Cunha Intermediate School, Davis Intermediate School, Delhi High School, East Moline Early Learning Center, El Sobrante Christian School, El Tejon Middle School, Foothills Community Christian School, Fort Fairfield High School, Frank Bergman Elementary, Franklin Elementary School, Frederick Douglass High School, Frost ISD, Gate City Elementary, GEMS World Academy, Ghidotti Early College High School, Glencliff High School, Global Impact Academy, Global Impact Academy STEM High School, Heritage Christian School, Hilger Higher Learning, Hinsdale Elementary School, HomeWorks, HOPE Christian Academy, Indian Prairie Elementary School, John Glenn High School, Joyful Journey, Kennedy Middle School, Lakeside Christian School, Lakeside Elementary, Liberty Christian School, Maple Manor, Marfa, Marsh Grammar School, Martin J. Gottlieb Day School, Mary Morgan Elementary School, Maywood Center for Enriched Studies, Meiklejohn Elementary, Midland Elementary, Miraglia's Globetrotters, Mt. Everett Regional, NJWT New Jerusalem Worship Temple, North Bergen High School, O'Farrell Charter School, Options For Youth, Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, Pinewood Intermediate, Pioneer Junior High, PRCES, Prune Hill Elementary, Quail Run Elementary, Rincon, University Marching Band, RISE HS, Rocky Mountain Classical Academy, Rocky Mountain Deaf School, Roseville Pathways, Ruth Batson Academy, Sacred Hearts School, Shatekon Elementary School, Shirley Hills Primary School, Smith Community Christian Co-Op, Soldier Hollow Charter School, Soldotna High School, South Orangetown Middle School, St. Jude Catholic School, Stratford Schools Fremont Boulevard, Stuart Paddock, Students On Academic Rise (S.O.A.R. High School), Swansea High Freshman Academy, Tandem Friends School, Tenor High School, Tenor High School | Cathedral Square Campus, TGU Granville, The Learning Connection (TLC), The Nova Center, Thomas J. McMahon Elementary School, Thomas Russell Middle School, Tri-County Homeschoolers, Victor H. Hexter Elementary, Vista del Mar, Wallace Elementary, Washington Middle School, Westlake Elementary, Westmont Jr. High School, Westside Global Awareness Magnet, Willett Elementary School

Treering Yearbook Heroes is a monthly feature focusing on yearbook tips and tricks.

When Mike Meloney showed up to enroll his eldest son in kindergarten, the principal gave him a hero’s welcome because he was the school's yearbook coordinator. Except Meloney didn’t know he had the job.

How did you get "voluntold" to be the yearbook chair?

My sister works for Treering, and she was helping schools in San Diego make the switch from other publishers. When she called McKinley, Kristie not only sold them on Treering but also on me. She said it would be a great way to connect with the community and engage.

I told her I didn’t have time.

Four years later, you’re still doing the book. How did you help build a yearbook culture at McKinley?

I learned to get organized early. Even without photos, you can still do a ton of work on day one of school to make the rest of the year easier: label every page on the ladder and then make a shared Google folder for each page. Get those shared folders to every teacher, event coordinator, and committee involved. Send reminders once a month to share pics.

It's really been profound to go and take the photos, lay out the book, and help with the sales. When I show up, students say, "Hey, it's the yearbook guy." 

Then, at the end of the year, when you give them out, and everyone's just googly-eyed about the year, they have this warm book in their hands. They sign it. It's just so special. And the memories that we make are—I hope—lifelong.

I have about five books left in me. My youngest is now in kindergarten.

What kinds of things do you do at the signing party?

It's all about reflection. One year, we had ice cream—as long as sugar's involved, kids are more engaged. 

It's just a special time to be together, really reflect on the year, laugh, and share stories.

Custom pages are a big deal at our school. One person puts in 100, but many folks just do the two pages for free. The more I share about it, the more people get engaged. 

At first, there's always the worry about the pages appearing in everyone's book. I tell them, “No, this is just your book that gets those pages.”

Once folks learn how easy it is to make them, they just go to town.

What do your kids think about being the ”yearbook guy?”

I have a unique connection with them and with the community. My kids are fully supportive. They're very critical at the same time. They'll come over and see the book-in-progress and say things like, “That doesn't go there” or  “I don't like it.” And if I ever have a question about something, they just answer it. 

So, in some sense, they're part of the committee.

What is something special you’re doing this year?

It’s the centennial year. The school opened in February 1925, and now, 100 years later, we're going from the Cougars to the original mascot, the Magpies. We also have an aerial drone shot of the kids lined up in the number 100.

The kids got together to research and interview some folks who were around in the school 60 years ago. They found these folks still living in the community, found old pictures, and made an exhibit. 

Next month, there will be a centennial-themed scavenger hunt and, later, a variety show called “A Hundred Years of Stars.”

It’s a special year.

Any final thoughts?

You don’t need to carve out huge amounts of time to focus on making the yearbook, especially in the spring when there is a lot of content and you just have to layout pages. Do one to five pics while your kids are lackadaisical about getting their shoes on. Every moment in the Treering app is a chance to crop, zoom, and make it nice.

Yearbook divider pages are just that: they divide the book topically. Generally showstoppers, these spreads share similar layouts as they introduce the content within while reinforcing the yearbook theme. While they aren’t the pages over which students argue for editing rights, they hold deep editorial power. Divider pages enforce the book’s identity while giving each section a voice.

Use Dividers to Develop Your Theme

Yearbook theme development starts on the cover and flows through the book visually and verbally. It wows on designated theme pages. These pages include

• Opening and closing
• Table of contents
• Divider pages

Independent of the book, these theme pages form a cohesive “brand” package for your year. They repeat and reflect cover elements. They have the same voice. They develop the story of the year through copy and visuals. Each divider reflects the theme and shows how it impacts that section.

Do epic dividers mean you no longer have to include theme elements throughout the book? Think again. They’re just one more way to level up your design.

An Example from Magnolia Middle School

From the start, the book is gold and black, with pops of the school color, red. The simple title page has the theme "Stay Gold" and the school information. The iconic 50-year-old Magnolia Grove walkway is the only original part of the school remaining after a major renovation. The yearbook team re-visits the grove for the closing page.

Here are the divider pages. Notice how they created a unified narrative:

• Magnolia repeats key elements: script font, circular callout for pull quotes, and gold dots.
• The new building is the visual feature and showcases how students impact each area.
• Wordplay: “The Golden Age of the Bulldogs,” “The Gold Standard,” “Shining Example,” “Shine On,” and “Thanks a Bullion” all tie back to the book’s theme, “Stay Gold.” (Fun fact: the book is built using Treering’s free yearbook theme with the same name.)

Essential Yearbook Sections

Like a table of contents, divider pages help readers navigate the yearbook. They help reset and refocus readers. 

Most yearbooks include designated sections for

• People (portraits)
• Academics
• Student life
• Organizations and clubs
• Athletics
• Reference (index, ads, and teams)

You may further divide with lower/upper school, fall/winter/spring sports, or even subject dividers for larger campuses. 

Creating Divider Pages

Consistency is key when designing divider pages, OK any yearbook spread. While each divider should highlight a unique section, they should all share common design elements to maintain a cohesive look. These elements can include using the same fonts, color palette, and layout style across all dividers. Repeating theme elements, such as graphics or photo styles, help reinforce the yearbook's identity while keeping readers oriented. 

Calling all Treering yearbook creators! It is contest time. Share your best designs for the 2025 design contest—collage, academics, athletics, modular, portrait pages, superlatives—we want to see them all.

Entry Period

The submission period is March 4-18, 2025. Submissions will close at 11:59 PM PDT.

Eligibility

Entrants must be 18 or older and a current editor at a US Treering school for the 2024-2025 school year.

To participate, complete the submission form and include a screenshot of your favorite yearbook spread. A yearbook spread is two-facing pages. Incomplete entries will not be accepted.

Winner Selection and Notification

A panel of yearbook parents, journalism educators, and graphic designers will select the winners. Judging criteria include:

• Layout design
• Storytelling
• Visual elements and their relevance to content

We will notify all the winners via email and phone on Monday, March 24, 2025.

Prizes

One Grand Prize winner will receive a $500 Amazon gift card, a $200 pizza party, and 10 free yearbooks for their school.

Five Runners Up will each receive a $50 Amazon gift card and three free yearbooks for their school.

By Friday, April 4, winners will receive gift cards via the email provided in the form. The free book code will be under “free books” on your school’s editor dashboard.

Release

By submitting your yearbook spread, you have verified the approval of others pictured, and you approve Treering to use your name, write-up, and school name for any marketing purposes, including but not limited to treering.com, social media, and mass media.

Contest FAQs

Treering Yearbook Heroes is a monthly feature focusing on yearbook tips and tricks.

As Treering’s Yearbook Jedi, TJ Soffera helps schools escape the dark side of contracts and order minimums. While his business cards say, “Regional Sales Manager,” parents at his son’s former elementary school—we’ll get to that in a bit—know him as the yearbook guy. He joined the PTA to spend time on campus with his boys and intentionally be involved in their lives.

What is it like seeing the yearbook from both sides: creator and publisher?

As the yearbook guy, I love getting parents excited about the custom pages. They allow kids to tell their own stories and capture their unique experiences. I include personal touches in my children's yearbooks, like photos from trips and soccer games. Looking back at them, we can say things like, “That was second grade when we went to Colorado.” That's what's special to me about the books and their longevity.

On the flip side, I just love helping people. I love making their lives easier. So many schools that made the switch are debt-free, and it takes away so much stress.

Through the sales process, I've built countless relationships. Three people on my team once were parent volunteers I did a software demo for. It’s important for customers to see we are real people. We, too, are volunteering and working. It builds empathy.

Talk to me more about making lives easier.

Last year, I put the wrong year on the spine of the yearbook. The support team helped me fix it, order a corrected copy, and send it to the newly retired principal.

Mistakes can be corrected, and missing students can be added even after the initial submission. I really do believe this means the world to not only the kids but even more to the yearbook adviser. The person who made the mistake is kicking themselves, and we’re over here going, “No big deal.”

Level with me: why are you still doing the yearbook at a school your kids no longer attend?

Treering’s software is so easy that I don't need much help with it. Really. As long as you have pictures, you can make a book. 

I am working to transition out of the role. I put myself in this position because I enjoy it, and the PTA president is great and helps me out. Together, we’re recruiting other parents to help with specific grades so someone can take over next year.

Treering’s click, drag, drop, and done tools aren’t for every design team. In an age of visual search, Pinterest, and AI, we advisers are refining strategies for guiding students in visual theme development. For those who take a more hands-on approach, there are generally two blockers:

1. Finding design inspiration
2. Going from ideation to spread design

Where Do I Find Fresh Design Inspiration?

Look at the graphic design on visual media as a springboard for ideas, not as a rigid template to follow. These real-world examples can provide valuable insights into current trends, color palettes, typography, and overall composition. 

Here’s how you do it with your yearbook class or club:

1. Embrace Inspiration: Look beyond the yearbook itself for design ideas. Explore the world, including websites, magazines, and other printed materials.
2. Use Treering's Big Idea Book and Yearbook Ideas and Inspiration Blog: These resources provide theme ideas and design examples.
3. Adapt and Personalize: Don't simply copy designs. Take elements from various sources and adapt them to fit your yearbook's specific theme and style.
4. Master the Software: Familiarize yourself with the yearbook design software and learn how to use its various tools and features effectively.
5. Consider Current Trends: Stay current on design trends and incorporate them into your yearbook designs when appropriate.
6. Guide and Encourage Students: Create a supportive and collaborative environment where students feel free to explore their creativity and share their ideas.

Two Real-World Examples and Applications

Look at the Mendocino Farms' website: its layout, color scheme, and font choices. In the video below, yearbook creator Liz Thompson shows how to recreate similar elements within the yearbook page in fewer than four minutes. 

Through practical demonstration, Thompson translates real-world inspiration into tangible yearbook designs.

Our second example features a magazine layout. White space, typography, and image placement could easily be adapted for a yearbook page. 

Notice how Thompson uses the design's overall flow and visual hierarchy to draw the viewer's eye to specific areas of the page.

Treering-Specific Tricks

Bringing outside inspiration into your yearbook doesn’t have to be a manual process. Treering engineers incorporated tools to simplify the DIY design process. Our top three include:

• Eyedropper (Color Picker)
• Text styles
• Editable shapes

Using the Color Picker Eyedropper

Extract colors from an image and apply them to the yearbook design. This technique allows for a more cohesive and visually appealing color palette. 

Create and Apply Text Styles

Adjust font sizes, line spacing, and text alignment, then save it as a headline, subheadline, accent—wherever you want to name it—a style you can apply with a click.

Add Editable Shapes

Incorporating various graphic elements—lines, boxes, and illustrations—can serve as an accent for emphasis or visual separation if you’re using modular design.

PSA: Use these graphics strategically to support the content and enhance the yearbook theme.

How to Use This at Your Next Yearbook Class or Club Meeting

As a group, watch the two instructional videos above. Follow Thompson's instructions to create a similar look.

Then, have students bring in an object with a design they enjoy. Discuss which principles of design are used. Pick one element you can re-create and add it to a yearbook spread. This can be a group or individual activity. The goal is to embrace a spirit of inspiration and collaboration as you breathe new life into your yearbook design.

This blog is adapted from Liz Thompson’s Design 201 session from TRL 24 POV: I’m on the Yearbook Team. Thompson, a former classroom teacher and yearbook adviser, serves on the Customer Success Team at Treering Yearbooks.

Yearbooks can be a costly investment for schools. Some publishers typically require schools to commit to a specific number of yearbooks at the start of the year, even before they’re sold to parents. If the school cannot sell all the books, it is left with the financial responsibility for the unsold copies. 

Not Treering.

Yearbook creators, like John Vogel from Whitesville Elementary School in KY, turned their yearbook bill into a yearbook check when they switched to Treering.

Treering prints what you need using print-on-demand technology, and we make it personal. When yearbook creators enable custom pages, each family has the option to personalize two pages that only print in their yearbook, making every book unique.  (More on us later.)

Yearbook Pricing Explained

Yearbooks are historical. Since Yale published the first one, improvements such as automated presses, desktop publishing software, and digital cameras have made mass-producing yearbooks and collaborating on design easier. Unfortunately, not all of these have translated into the bottom line.

Traditional yearbooks are expensive because the majority of yearbook charges happen in these five main areas:

1. Printing and Production Costs: Usually rolled into the base price, these are the plant charges for producing your core book, including paper, cover stock, and color vs. black-and-white pages.

2. Design and Publishing Software: Big-name design software charges per user, even when integrated into the yearbook publisher’s design application. Publishers sometimes add on charges for professional design support; this is most common when schools want a custom cover.

3. Shipping and Distribution: Since yearbooks are heavy, the cost of delivering large boxes to the school adds up. Some schools must also factor in storage costs or extra distribution efforts, especially if books arrive after the school year ends.

4. Spring Supplements or Inserts: With deadlines as early as February, many schools create and print supplements for spring sports, graduation, or prom. These stick-in pages result in additional printing and shipping costs.

5. Fees: Financial penalties such as art set-up fees, minimums, late fees, proofs, marketing materials, cloud storage, and training and support can add up. Sometimes, advisers don’t see them until the final invoice.

https://blog.treering.com/can-our-school-afford-a-yearbook-program/

No Cost Yearbooks?

We’re going to toot our own horn for a sec: Treering operates at no cost to schools, with no minimum orders, commitments, or leftover books to manage. Using digital printing, our platform streamlines production, allows for a three-week turnaround, and even accommodates after-deadline orders. 

There are no late fees, and you control your deadline.

This flexible approach eliminates inventory management, avoids extra costs, and makes yearbooks more affordable—especially for smaller schools.

Additionally, your per-book price is our only price. It covers everything you may be used to paying for separately, like printing, bulk shipping, e-commerce, marketing, support, custom covers, software, and top quality. It’s based on the number of pages in your yearbook and the cover finish.

Remember School A and School B from above? Here's what happened when they switched to Treering.

When we entered the yearbook space in 2009 touting a print-on-demand, no-contract yearbook solution, schools were wary of this too-good-to-be-true proposition. To learn how other schools gained control over their yearbook finances by partnering with Treering Yearbooks, check out these additional yearbook creator case studies:

• Beth Stacy from Wayne High School, OH
• Tina Schumacher from St. Francis, NE
• Janet Yieh, Presidio Middle School, CA

There’s something profoundly satisfying about capturing that one perfect image—when the light and laughter align so magically, freezing time in a way that feels effortless. According to Yearbook Hero Emily Wilson, those moments are rare, fleeting, and almost impossible to predict. To help, she shared her top tips for capturing authentic moments in candid photos.

Get to know Wilson and her developing passion for photography in her own words. (See what we did there?)

After my second child was born, my husband gifted me my first “real” camera. It was a Nikon D5000, and it felt cumbersome and clumsy in my hands at first. I’ve never thought of myself as particularly "techie"—just the word exposure makes me break out in a mild panic. But what I do know is how to tell a story, and that’s always been my default. Photography, for me, has never been about mastering every setting and toggle on a camera. It’s been about capturing moments that matter.

https://blog.treering.com/two-ways-to-improve-your-yearbook-photography/

“Life isn’t about how many breaths you take, but about the moments that take your breath away.” Few movie quotes have stuck with me over the years, but this one has (thank you, Will Smith in Hitch). I think of it often, especially when I’m scanning the world through my camera lens, searching for those breathtaking moments. 

Over time, I’ve learned that no amount of technical knowledge can replace an innate understanding of people—their emotions, connections, and desires.

Emily Wilson

10 Tips for Authentic Yearbook Photography

For the past five years, I’ve served as the yearbook advisor for a high school. It wasn’t something I ever planned—I had envisioned teaching only English, not journalism. I’d never written formal journalist pieces or worked on a yearbook before. The closest I’d come to anything remotely similar was scrapbooking and journaling. But armed with limited technical knowledge and an abundance of creative confidence, I decided to embrace the challenge.

While my student staff and I still have plenty of room to grow and refine our journalistic techniques, we’ve made significant strides. Here are ten tips that have propelled our yearbook forward, helping us create something we’re genuinely proud of.

1. Capture Candid Moments

Yearbooks are about documenting real life, not just posed portraits. Be a quiet observer during events, in classrooms, and on the sidelines. Look for laughter, concentration, or spontaneous gestures that tell a story.

https://blog.treering.com/classroom-photo-tips/

2. Get to Know Your Subjects

Whether you’re photographing a pep rally or the chess club, take a moment to connect with your subjects. A quick chat can help them feel more comfortable and natural, translating to more authentic images.

3. Tell the Story of the Year

Think of each photo as part of a larger narrative. The yearbook isn’t just a collection of faces; it’s a snapshot of a school’s unique culture, achievements, and challenges. Seek out moments that capture the spirit of the year.

4. Vary Your Perspectives

Avoid taking all your photos from eye level. Get low for a dramatic shot of the basketball team huddled on the court, or climb up for a wide-angle view of a school assembly. Changing your perspective can make ordinary scenes more dynamic.

https://blog.treering.com/yearbook-photography-lessons

5. Be Mindful of Backgrounds

A messy or distracting background can take the focus away from your subject. Frame your shots intentionally, and if needed, move slightly to avoid clutter like trash cans, backpacks, or bright exit signs that draw attention away from the action.

6. Use Natural Light When Possible

School settings can have harsh or dim artificial lighting, so position your subjects near windows or use outdoor spaces when you can. If shooting indoors, experiment with angles and settings to avoid heavy shadows or overexposed areas.

7. Focus on Emotion and Interaction

The best yearbook photos highlight relationships and emotions. Capture the high-fives after a touchdown, the quiet focus during a test, or the joyous chaos of a classroom celebration. Emotion adds depth and meaning to your images.

8. Photograph the Unexpected

Some of the most memorable yearbook images come from overlooked moments—like a student tying a friend’s shoe, a teacher’s reaction during a surprise assembly, or a band member backstage adjusting their uniform. Look for the stories others might miss.

9. Keep It Balanced: Action and Detail

Yearbooks benefit from a mix of sweeping action shots and small, intimate details. Pair a mid-game photo of the soccer team with a close-up of their muddy cleats or a teammate’s hands clapping after a goal. These contrasts add richness to the narrative.

10. Involve the Whole School Community

Yearbooks celebrate everyone in the school. Don’t just focus on the obvious highlights, like sports and performances. Include the quiet moments in the library, the budding friendships in the lunchroom, and even the behind-the-scenes work of staff and volunteers.

Beyond the Lens

Photography is about more than just pointing a lens at a subject. It’s about anticipation. You have to almost feel what’s coming before it happens, predicting not just the movements of your subject but also the reactions of those on the fringes of the frame. Sometimes, the most compelling images come not from the people you’re focused on but from those nearby—the onlookers. These unexpected participants bring depth and richness to the story unfolding in your viewfinder.

Take, for example, a family portrait session. You might be working to capture the perfect posed shot, but suddenly, one of the kids is overtaken by a fit of giggles. Naturally, you’ll want to pivot and catch those big, toothy grins and wild, waving arms. But as a parent and a storyteller, I’ll instinctively glance at Mom, too—her expression in response to her child’s laughter. Those are the authentic moments.

Those are the moments that matter. They’re the ones that, years from now, will make you pause, smile, and maybe even tear up as you reflect on how quickly life moves. It’s these moments that take your breath away.

Learn more about Wilson’s yearbook journey here.

Treering Yearbook Heroes is a monthly feature focusing on yearbook tips and tricks.

Yearbook Hero James Costa moved from the Boston newsroom to the middle school classroom. Taking his skillset in graphic design and desktop publishing to yearbook production, Costa started as the yearbook adviser in November of 2023. Already months behind, he worked to collect photos, design pages, and create a visual look by himself. (Wait until you see the cover below.)

Now in his second year as a yearbook creator, he has moved from the campus’ Digital Learning Specialist to teaching five preps as a Tech Ed instructor. Combining his ten years of scaffolding instruction plus the experience of creating the book solo, Costa developed a team structure and workflow so students could help. Under Costa’s leadership, the members of Merrimack Middle School’s first-ever yearbook club are learning design, marketing, and the business of yearbooking.

There are no grades when you do a club. How do you keep students on task?

I understand certain students' strengths and try to encourage and empower them for that. They all have specific jobs. For example, I have a student editor who is detail-oriented. After a big photo dump in our Google Drive, she’ll organize all the photos into folders and delete duplicates. She has an assistant editor to help.

There’s also a yearbook club secretary, treasurer, and communications and outreach director. 

Starting in January, Costa and the street team released a monthly yearbook spotlight. They tease the theme, provide ordering info, and hype custom pages.

My superlatives coordinator is in charge of all things superlatives: making the voting form, taking pictures of the winners, and designing the spread. This is the first time we’ve done superlatives.

Some students are more into design and are on the design team creating spreads. We also have a street team that checks out cameras and photographs events.

I instruct them as much as I can in a whole-group setting, and they also need a lot of one-on-one attention. We have about eight consistent kids. 

That sounds incredibly organized. What tasks are currently on your team’s to-do list?

This year is inspired by music. We’re using “Wrapped” and working out how to incorporate elements such as “This or That?” (Olivia Rodrigo vs. Sabrina Carpenter, pop vs. rap). Right now, we're in the stages of just kind of building the ladder and collecting a ton of pictures.

We're just seeing how it evolves and seeing what the layouts give us. I think it's going to be much different from last year's from a design perspective, hopefully, a little cleaner. I had a lot of collages that were kind of just pictures thrown together, but I know the kids like the layouts a little bit more. 

Many of us on staff are in love with the “8-Bit” book you created last year. How did you carry it out?

The funny thing about 8-Bit is that I'll show teachers, and they respond, “It's like Mario,” and the kids see it and say, “It's like Minecraft.” So you see that big division in the generations.

I started with the Treering theme backgrounds as inspiration. On each spread, you see an 8-bit avatar of a teacher. I made those with AI; it was a lot of work word-smithing the prompts to get them to look exactly like the teachers, but that was a lot of fun.

It sounds like fun is a core value of the Merrimack team.

I'm going to give the kids a big shout-out. If I have a tough week, and our yearbook meetings are Friday afternoons, I leave feeling like I had a great day. 

How to capture a milestone year in your campus’ history frequently pops up in adviser chats. Yearbook Hero Beth Stacy said her team “linked the past to the present” with their 75th anniversary yearbook. That’s the goal. 

1. What’s the Best Way to Show School History in an Anniversary Book?

Anniversary books don’t have to deviate from your normal yearbooking protocol. It can be minimal, such as in a 40th anniversary book, asking students where they want to be in the next 40 years. Or devoting a spread to a list of 100 things to love about your school in its 100th year (remember to include alumni). Or even showing photos of teachers on the staff page from the year the school was founded.

The ideas below take up a spread or two, so your focus can be the history currently written in the year at hand. 

School Timeline

Schools commonly create a timeline outlining specific milestones and achievements. For Rock Academy in CA’s 15th anniversary, yearbook creators featured two pages of school history with old photos of current students. 

The timeline included when faculty members joined, the expansion of course offerings, and photos of the first-ever graduate. Old photos had the year on the bottom right corner to denote the past from the present. They continued this trend on divider pages.

Cover the Years

When Wayne High School in OH published its 75th yearbook, the editorial team created two spreads showing the school's history through their yearbook covers. The team at Wayne worked with the alumni association, the local historical society, and the school archives to find most of the yearbooks. 

Then and Now

(Side note: this would make a great anniversary yearbook theme.)

The team at H.O.P.E. in TX also took a trip to the yearbook archives. They scanned old photos from previous books to do side-by-sides with their present counterparts. They also researched the cost of goods from 30 years ago to show life off campus. 

Adviser Rita Johson's team also interviewed alumni from the first graduating class and pictured previous advisers in the colophon. She said this was the first year they created a style guide; the yearbook design process evolved from more of a scrapbook to using mods. The team enjoyed exploring the school archives and found 19 yearbooks for the school's 30 years.

Pro tip: Save yourself the scanning. If you’ve been with Treering for multiple years, your yearbook covers and photos are in your yearbook account.

2. What’s a “Good” Theme?

Well-executed themes cover the school year both verbally and visually. It shows and tells. In a milestone year, like your school’s 50th anniversary, it may be tempting to try and carry this concept through the entire book. Full stop. Unless the winning point guard from the 6th grade basketball team is currently coaching his great-grandson, resist the urge to make your anniversary the yearbook theme. This year (the buyers!) will always be the primary focus. 

https://blog.treering.com/how-to-choose-a-yearbook-theme/

Verbal Theme Ideas

Because yearbook creators love the look, we’re starting with the “sound” of the theme. Headlines, theme copy, and spin-offs should reflect your yearbook’s theme.

https://blog.treering.com/how-to-improve-yearbook-headlines/

Evergreen Anniversary Theme Ideas

• Construction-focused: “Built to Last” or “Foundation for Tomorrow”
• Timeline focused: “Our Journey Here,” “Milestones Marked,” and “Then and Now”
• Younger school: “The Wonder Years”
• Older school: “Timeless”

Year-Specific Theme Ideas

• 10-20-30, etc.: “Decades of Excellence”
• 15: “Time to Shine”
• 50: “Golden Moments” 
• 100: “A Century Strong”

https://blog.treering.com/gold-yearbook-themes/

Visual Theme Considerations

Align your theme’s aesthetic with the verbal tone. Taking a page from my junior year, the theme “Reflections” should have some mirroring in the graphics, if not some shine on the cover. 

Traditional anniversary gifts—a list that dates back to the 19th century—prescribe the following:

• 10th anniversary - tin or aluminum
• 15th anniversary - crystal
• 25th anniversary - silver
• 50th anniversary - gold 

You can easily add such elements to your cover finish. Bringing your “golden anniversary” to life can be as simple as adding gold foil. Treering also offers silver foil and clear UV embossing.

Inside your yearbook, you could (choose one!)

• Denote old photos by making them black and white or using a Polaroid-style frame (like HOPE did)
• Hide 20 pictures of your mascot (if it’s your 20th)
• Use blueprints or construction photos for a significant building project

3. When Should I Do an Anniversary Yearbook?

We see anniversary books for 10-100 years, and everything in between. The caveat here is that if your school is doing nothing, why would the yearbook? Align with your school community to get the final answer on this one. 

Getting Personal: Treering’s 15th Anniversary Book

As Treering’s 15th year closes, we created our first-ever anniversary yearbook. Our staff took yearbook photos on the conventional blue background. As a cross-functional team, yearbook creators interviewed staff members and collected photos of people in the home office as well as remote teammates’ home offices.

Unlike a school where students promote and graduate, many staff members are in their second decade with the company, and two of the founders are involved in the day-to-day. The history section features photos of the early offices and staff, the original 44 schools, and a history of Treering-produced theme art. It is heavy on nostalgia.

We look forward to celebrating many more milestones with you.

If I could return to year one of advising, I’d draft a staff manual. Yearbooking (yes, it’s a verb) would have been much simpler. I’m not talking about contract negotiation so much as how to deal with sports editors who cannot get a ride to a game or reporters who only interview their friends. Or the “finished” spread with “Lorem ispum dolor” still filling the caption boxes. Or how to tell a senior parent you cannot legally publish a screenshot from a mall photographer’s online proof system. Phew. 

Tenets of Your Program

A tenet is a doctrine you hold to be true. The first section of your staff manual should define your non-negotiables. These could be class culture and coverage goals. They could also include specific ways your yearbook program aligns with your school’s mission. Or, you could take a different approach and schedule workdays to create your book in chunks.

It’s your call. You determine what is valuable to your community. Here's what's in mine.

Coverage is a non-negotiable because our school claims to be a “People-first” learning community. If a student is excluded from the historical record of our campus, the yearbook team undermines the mission. That said, we’ve never had 3x coverage for 100% of the 423-person student body; on average, it’s 94-96%. And because Treering’s three-week turnaround allows us to add the students who transferred in through mid-April, hardly anyone is ever a zero. 

Considerations for Elementary Schools

Middle and high schools use yearbook policies to govern student roles, responsibilities, procedures, and behavior; adult teams might need to establish guidelines for

• Coverage expectations
• Photo submissions
• Communication
• Parent group subsidized book policies
• Fundraiser distribution

If your group is parent-led, there may be turnover. These policies will help the next adviser. 

https://blog.treering.com/no-longer-the-yearbook-adviser/

Yearbook Team Policies

By taking time to craft some policies for your staff manual, you will also codify what your program looks like. For example, if you have a large class (or two) completing the yearbook, you will want to have procedures for group and editorial board communication, chain of command, and the like. A team of five will not. 

For a smaller yearbook team, it helps to establish boundaries to prevent burnout. Use your policies to protect one another such as how you will prioritize coverage when you can’t be everywhere.

Parent groups, yearbook classes, and clubs of any size also need job descriptions (see the next section).

Organizing Your Staff Manual

Try to keep this under five pages, including the rubrics and/or checklists. Admin needs to sign off on these. Physically. That signature will go a long way when a parent or student challenges you.

Here are ten policies to include in your yearbook staff manual:

1. Confidentiality

Use this section to outline what you keep quiet and what you share pre-distribution.

• Theme: If you keep your theme a secret through distribution, adding the why to this section will strengthen your tradition. (Unless your why is “That’s the way we’ve always done it,” and I’m going to challenge you to re-evaluate your take.)
• Yearbook Photos: Will you allow students to sell photos that did not make it into the yearbook? How will you respond to coaches’ requests for photos?
• Sharing on Social: Draft a policy for sharing yearbook content or promotions online, including photo use, photo credits, and tagging guidelines. 

2. Photos 

What guides the bulk of your content?

• Professional Photographer: Who is the official photographer for your school and how many picture days do you have? List who is responsible for taking photos of sports teams, seniors, spring photos, clubs, teams, and promoting students. Include contact information for each.
• Names: Legal name vs. nickname is best decided by district policy. 
• Not-pictured policy: List the number of make-up picture days and how you list students and staff without an “official” school photo.
• Candids: hand signs, clothing
• Baby photos: Detail how to submit baby photos and relevant notes on photo quality, format, and subject matter. Do you accept babies with bare bottoms? (I know an eighth-grade boy who wishes you wouldn’t.)
• Submission Guidelines: Detail how to get photos to their yearbook staff and relevant notes on photo quality, format, and subject matter. If you do not want heaps of posed photos, add that to your policy. Consider how to thank contributors. 
• Photos in Recognition Ads: Our school’s policy states, “If you cannot wear it on campus, you cannot have it in your ad.” Yours may say, “Anything goes!” 

3. Obituary Policy

This is the toughest policy to craft while grieving. I learned the hard way. A group text from the vice principal requested an emergency staff meeting before school. Two students died in an automobile accident. One was racing without a license. The other was walking home. 

Momentarily putting aside the denial, anger, and bargaining, we had to decide how to honor two lives. Thus, the following became our policy:

If within press time, Warrior Yearbook will provide a ¼ page space with the following:

• “In Memoriam”
• Legal name of deceased
• Dates of birth and death

No additional information will be included. All student ads will feature a family-submitted photo and will have parent approval. Next of kin will provide the photo and approval for staff memorials.

Here are more examples of obituary policies.

4. Superlatives and Senior Quotes

These are two of the most controversial areas between your yearbook covers. Add relevant dates, submission guidelines, crowdsourcing avenues, etc., to your policies. 

Part of your yearbook superlative policy should include:

• How superlative categories are decided (here are 100+ to get you started)
• How students will vote and the deadline for submissions 
• The number of winners in each category
• How you will display superlatives in your yearbook

Personal opinion: Instead of senior quotes that focus on one group on your campus, why don’t you improve your journalism by building expanded captions into your designs? This way, you have quotes on every page from every grade. Now that’s people first.

If senior quotes are a golden calf, craft a policy that outlines

• Character or word limits
• Requirements for originality
• Vetting process (yes, we will look up that timestamp)

https://blog.treering.com/why-i-stopped-publishing-senior-quotes/

5. Journalistic Integrity

Use this section to define how you will legally license and attribute outside content, and the role of AI in your newsroom. (Chances are, your district already has a written policy you can cite.)

This is also a great spot to explain the characteristics of reporting: it’s free of editorializing, defamation, or discriminatory content. What safeguards will you include?

6. Grading

Yearbook is the hardest “easy A” my students ever earned. (Wait for it…) Because of that misconception, include spread checklists and grading rubrics in this section so there is no question come progress report time. This is also a great area to outline your workflow and deadline schedule.

7. Style Guide

This section provides clear instructions on theme elements to ensure consistency across the yearbook. With these decisions made early on, your team can focus on what truly matters: content.

• Font size and weight (Pro tip: set these text styles in the Treering app.)
• Text alignment rules
• Color palette
• Theme graphics: size, use case
• Photographs: borders, size, shape, alignment, spacing, rules on hand gestures and photobombs
• Space between photos, modules

Many advisers stop there. I would push you to expand your yearbook style policy to include writing. 

• What is school-specific nomenclature? 
• How do you write names? For example, First Name Last Name (grade) for students, and Courtesy Title Last Name for teachers.

8. Content Approval Process

Who approves layouts, photos, and written content, and what is the order of approval? If you have mini-deadlines for reviews and revision, include them here. Treering advisers, allow yourself time to order and review your printed proof.

There may be some overlap with your grading section, and that’s OK.

9. Camera/Equipment Checkout Procedure

This section of your yearbook policy manual should clearly outline the rules and expectations for borrowing, using, and returning yearbook equipment. Here's what you might include:

• Who can check out equipment and how.
• Rules for proper handling and use of equipment, including personal use or lending to non-staff.
• Steps for reporting damaged equipment and liability for damages

Bottom line: this should complement your district policy on technology usage.

10.  Complaint Policy and Refunds

https://blog.treering.com/yearbook-complaints/

Yearbook Staff Job Descriptions

After a disastrous first year where everyone created their own editor title, an experienced adviser sat me down and said, “You need to spell it out.” 

That nugget provided the missing piece to my yearbook classroom management.

If you’re a teacher, yearbook is another class. It requires scaffolding and instructional time. It’s also a business: you’re creating a project that requires financial resources. Use the job descriptions below to organize your team, create a chain of command, and align your grading expectations.

If you’re a parent volunteer working with other volunteers, use these job descriptions to provide role clarity for your team. (And if all else fails, we have a blog for that too.)

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

Use these as a framework to structure your team and responsibilities. 

Admin Approval

Close your staff manual with an acknowledgment page: your signature and your principal’s should appear on every printout. Students and their parents should also sign it. Keep an acknowledgment page for your records.