Treering Blog

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

Driven: just one of the sweetest words used to describe the diligent students at Langston Hughes High School in Fairburn, Georgia. These words came straight from former graphic design teacher, adviser, and yearbook manager Deja Rolle (who is pretty driven herself, if we do say so ourselves). As a first year Treering user, Deja wanted to show the perseverance of her students throughout the challenging pandemic in this year’s yearbook.

Deja, like yearbook coordinators everywhere, knew the importance of capturing the true essence of the school year with its in-person, virtual and hybrid formats. Once Deja heard about Treering and how it gives schools the flexibility to create custom yearbooks, using collaborative tools without the constraints of deadlines, she knew it would assist in producing a unique yearbook (alley-oop for us).

Langston Hughes High School students showed their perseverance to create an inclusive yearbook. Deja, with Treering’s assistance, was able to preserve this special show of character in an unpredictable year. 

Learn more about how Deja showcased the students of Langston Hughes High School in their yearbook.

What led to you creating this past year’s yearbook with Treering?

Just like nearly every school last year, there were a variety of new challenges that came with the pandemic—and the possibility of not having a yearbook was one of them. As the school year continued, I knew someone had to take responsibility to summarize the scope of the year during COVID-19. And I knew it had to be me. I love these students and I just couldn’t take the thought of not celebrating them.

While brainstorming the best way to capture this school year, I came across Treering, which allowed me to be flexible and unique with the way I formatted the yearbook.

How did the LHHS’s students handle this past school year (2020-2021)?

If the pandemic revealed anything about our students, it’s how amazing they are, their passion for success and their entrepreneurial spirit. A lot of our students stepped up to the plate when their families needed help this year and have the proof to show it. There were a slew of entrepreneurs this year who sold all kinds of products including masks, earrings, hair wraps, clothes, etc. 

Also, our students not only brought income into their families, but some even used their time at home to pursue associate degrees. In our yearbook this past school year, we had two whole pages dedicated to students who were able to receive their associate degree while graduating from LHHS! All the students' work just drives my passion to see our students succeed.

What made this past yearbook stand out from the others?

Last school year was just crazy—everything stands out! It was so different from anything the students or I had ever experienced and will probably never experience anything quite like it again, I hope. I had to capture that in the yearbook. Since lessons were being taught in three formats, I really wanted everyone to feel included whether it was a photo submitted of their virtual workspace or text quotes from the seniors. This book really aims to capture ALL, I want to repeat ALL the students and their stories. Every year, we include everyone and their story, but what stood out the most this year was how much work it was to include everyone. 

Also, in this year’s class pictures, our students had the freedom and choice of what they wanted to be showcased, which I think was a little more fun for the students. Depending on preference, we had students submit their own portraits while others submitted selfies! This allowed our students to choose the picture they wanted to present of themselves rather than the school choosing. 

Deja Rolle now teaches at the STEM School Global Impact Academy.

Unpopular opinion: senior quotes are problematic because they are unoriginal and full of risk. Before you click away from this perceived pessimistic view, put on your journalist hat and look at the facts. This position is not an anti-expression rant but a push to develop original, authentic content for our yearbooks. Here’s how I replaced senior quotes 15 years ago. 

Three reasons to start a new senior tradition

1. Participation and originality

A struggle we see from advisers is a small percentage of students submit their senior quote. Those who do use a quote from a movie, song lyric, or timestamp, not their own thoughts. That’s not journalism. These pop culture references may have a place in a module or personality profile elsewhere in the book if it relates to your theme.

2. Vetting process

Do you know the periodic table? Are you fluent in slang, TikTok trends, drug euphemisms, and veiled sexual references? Does your district have a hard line on what is free vs. hate speech?

3. Senior quotes can equate to bad PR

A quick news search for "yearbook senior quotes" yields myriad results of senior quotes gone wrong. Allegations of bullying in the yearbook and “unlawful accessing” the online editor abound. Schools have even cut the pages from their books due to the quotes in print. 

Ideas to replace senior quotes

Thanks for sticking with me. Below are ways to celebrate the seniors on your campus and capture their voices (rather than Michael Scott’s).

Brag sheets

If your seniors want to leave their proverbial mark, include their school contribution with their senior portrait. A Google Form listing all the activities, clubs, and teams offered on your campus makes it quick for students to click through. Partner with a department and ask for it to be the bell ringer or exit ticket for a day. 

You could also include class stats, such as athletic participation rate, percentage of students in leadership, and volunteer hours.

Include more quotes with expanded captions throughout the book

If your yearbook program is journalistic, it should have storytelling and reporting at its heart. Expanded captions include direct quotes. By using them, you are creating a yearbook full of original voices and senior, junior, eighth grader, etc. quotes. Here’s how it works:

• Identification information: who is doing what when and for what purpose? (Use present tense.)
• Secondary information: what is something you wouldn’t know from looking at the photo? (Use past tense.) This could be the result of the play or experiment pictured or the relationship between the students.
• Quote and attribution: include a direct quote from the subject that adds emotion, opinion, or information that isn’t obvious. Identify the quote with last name (grade) said.

Create a survey based on thematic coverage

Theme is king in yearbook. You selected it because it was the guiding story and look for your book. When you are developing your theme, create interview questions using this language.

For example, Rock Academy’s theme “Give + Take” yielded interview questions such as “What’s your take?” or “Give me five…” (songs, class activities, places you go on campus, etc.). Pro tip: use an idiom dictionary to search for such spin-offs for your theme.

For their book “Speak Life,” Sequoia High had a running module throughout the book called “Speak Your Piece” with quotes from students about a specific moment. 

Sell ad space

Yup. I said that. When you pay to play, there is a little more consideration and propriety. Some schools offer 1/8 page to all their seniors and give parents the option to pay for upgraded space. (You'll have to get creative with the alphabetizing.) Others create a section with the index to feature ads. 

With Treering Yearbooks, families also have two free customizable pages that print only in their book.

Stay the course

Full disclosure: my first year, there was a little heat from students and a petition. By year two, students (of all grades) saw their voices in every corner of the yearbook, and no one questioned it. The standard response became "We have senior quotes on every spread in the yearbook."

Modular design for yearbooks is an approach to layout and design that emphasizes flexibility (just like your favorite yearbook company) and ease of content organization. Small, self-contained modules include photos, copy, and other theme content. With multiple reader entry points, a modular layout contains three or more, each telling a different story.

Four modular layout ideas

Because modular design has many interpretations and applications, we pulled together four different looks.

Idea 1: let your story be your guide

This spread covers the middle school schedule, media program, study habits, and electives in six modules. There is a large amount of copy beyond the feature story and a quote "sidebar" running down the middle of the spread.

Idea 2: give the whole picture

This varied collection of mods includes a quote package, personality profile, election results, and event coverage. In a chronological yearbook, such as this, modular layouts help organize myriad stories on a single spread.

Idea 3: start small

Not only did the six polls reveal more about the faculty, but the yearbook editors added quotes and cutouts to teach us more. Adding a mod to the people or reference section is one way to add voices to an otherwise flat section.

Idea 4: drag and drop

Low on copy, high on images, this sample spread with four modules provides ample space to detail aspects of art creation. As-is, this layout is available with the others in the Maximalist theme under layout and design for Treering Yearbooks editors. Other modular themes include Tropical Chronicles and Tied Together.

Layout tools and tips

Treering Yearbooks' built-in tools to help you create your own layouts and modify ours in a few clicks.

Treering design school in under 18 minutes.

Pros and cons of mods

While modular design increases coverage opportunities, it takes more planning from your editorial team. 

Pro: coverage

Devoting a spread to one topic limits the coverage to one group. Opening up a sidebar or two increases your possibilities to tell more of the year. 

‍

Pro: collaboration

On larger teams, modular design facilitates collaboration among a team of yearbook contributors. Section editors can distribute interview and photography assignments by topic.

A quick note for advisers: assigning module topics is also a way to combat the “I have nothing to do” line that tends to get tossed around the newsroom. 

Pro: consistency

Recurring modules maintain a consistent look and feel throughout the yearbook, which strengthens the theme and overall design.

Con: planning

Frankly, some content may not neatly fit into modular structures. It’s fetch. And if not managed carefully, modular design may lead to overusing the same design elements. There’s a fine line between consistency and monotony.

Yearbook module ideas

The most popular yearbook mods tend to be sidebars with a question-and-answer format. If you want to add something new to your yearbook layouts this year, this is one way to increase coverage and develop open-ended questions. 

Consider building in these additional modules:

• This or that: fashion, fandoms
• Matching: teachers with their first jobs, the shoe to the sport
• How-tos/step-by-step: prep for an inside and outside pirouette, outline a DBQ essay
• Flat lays: teachers’ desks, backpacks
• Essential gear: art kit, robotics team
• Timelines: getting ready for a school dance, fundraiser from start to finish
• Lists: five ways to welcome new students, 10 reasons people auditioned for the spring musical

This blog is adapted from Liz Thompson’s Design 201 session from TRL 23: Start Here. Thompson, a former high school yearbook adviser, serves as a customer success manager with Treering Yearbooks. 

Thinking critically about yearbook coverage is an editorial mind shift. Shiny things such as theme art and backgrounds often take precedence. Yearbook coverage highlights all the memorable people and events. And there is a flip side: planning yearbook coverage is also a conscious decision on what you’re not going to cover. 

Coverage limitations

Yearbook price, page count, and–gasp–traditions limit coverage. For Treering schools, page count directly influences the price point. Your per-book price is based on the core page count (does not include custom pages), and cover finish.

Page count and coverage budgets

For those with a class or club, a coverage budget helps you and your team be intentional. Start by listing the sections in your book. Then budget spreads to each section.

Yearbook traditions

We don’t mean the fun ones like Yerdsgiving or distribution. No matter the school size, there is an element of expectation on you as the adviser. Be aware of the sacred cows of your yearbook program. These can range from color palettes to the ultimate sacred cow, senior quotes. (We interrupt this blog to give you the resource you didn’t know you needed: three reasons to get rid of senior quotes and how to replace them.) 

If you're willing to take the energy to fight tradition, and have a clear reason, go for it. 

For example, when my school hit 11 years, my students deviated from alternating purple and black covers. They created a blue and red book, with PK-6 on one side and 7-12 on the other. Their reasoning? For the first time in school history, there were separate principals for the upper and lower schools. 

My students wanted to highlight how each grew independent of the other, and instead of pushing to do two smaller books, recognized the power of us all still being in one building. The yearbook students saw it as a picture of unity; the other students saw it as the school spirit equivalent of treason. Bottom line: blue and red make purple. Once that line made it around campus, everyone loved the book. Ten years later, we have not published a purple or black book. 

Change takes time.

People over events

This is our coverage mantra. When you highlight people, your yearbook develops an emotional connection as students see their art, stories, meaningful quotes, and photos of their experiences. Every student wants to know they were in it. They were included. Their story was deemed valuable enough to be in the yearbook. 

We're always going to highlight people over the events. People happen in the context of the events, and in each event, highlight those behind the scenes, up front, and watching. Remember:

• Set up and take down
• Fan and audience reactions
• Snack bars, spirit shops, and the bench
• The booth: announcers, tech crew, coaches, press

You need not think each will get a spread. Modular design is a way to fit more content in and do it stylishly. (If you don’t want to start from scratch, Treering themes “POV,” “Tied Together,” and “Crafted” have modular layouts from which you can model.)

People first ideas

We want to move away from students opening the book, finding their name or face, and moving on. Below are some ideas to help you add stories and make them dynamic so people pause their perusal to get personal.

Dedications, Retirements, and Unsung Heroes: Every school has one teacher, volunteer, or student leader who positively impacts school culture. Honor their impact with a small write up or a full-spread dedication.

Future Plans: Publish elementary school “What I want to be…” and high school post-graduation plans.

Trends: Waterbottles, fashion, and laptop stickers are great. The stories behind them are better.

Personality Profiles: We love making room for additional stories by shrinking portraits and adding content.

Pets: Pets are an easy way to cover camera-shy students or get families started with crowdsourcing.

School Map: Students spend 8-12 hours on campus. Find out where the best study and nap locations are. Interview athletes from each sport who practice on the turf. 

Interactive Pages: One thing we saw multiple times during the duration of TRL 24 was “Guess Who?” spreads and modules:

• Guess Whose… eyeglasses, water bottle, ect.
• Match the baby photo to the 5th grader or teacher
• Match the teachers to their first job

People also loved the Treering About Me pages.

Yearbook blacklists and BOLO boards

Many students are easy to cover three times because they fell into the 1-2-3 coverage pattern:

1. Portrait
2. Extracurricular
3. Academics

For those who do not, use the coverage ideas above to get them in the book. 

We understand that the same events occur year after year. Challenge yourself to cover them in two new ways. How will you and your yearbook team give a fresh take on the students on your campus this year?

This blog is adapted from Brent Mikolaycik and Erika Lin Payne’s Coverage Ideas session from TRL 24 POV: I’m on the Yearbook Team. Mikolaycik and Payne came to Treering Yearbooks after nearly two decades as classroom teachers and high school yearbook advisers.

Like its namesake, evergreen content stays fresh for a long time, unlike the tie-dye loungewear we are still trying to forget. While you should definitely include polls and trends in your yearbook (it is the story of the year after all), open-ended interview questions (such as the 40+ we are giving you below) should remain in your repertoire for three reasons:

For ease of use, we organized these interview questions by yearbook section. Grab your editorial team and create your list!

Student Life

Because some of your formative moments occur outside the classroom, be sure to include all that goes into the school day.

Campus Life

Routine

People

These questions make great sidebars to go along your portrait pages.

Milestones

Interests

Academics

Athletics

Bonus: Trending Topics

Add content on the following to complement the evergreen content in your yearbook.

For even more interviewing tips, check out the yearbook storytelling module from Treering's free curriculum.

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

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

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

Define your goal

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

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

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

Cultivate favorable terms

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

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

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

Selling yearbook ads: the potential of your program

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

If starting the year with a yearbook debrief wasn’t possible or 3rd period publications popped up on your schedule the day before school started, start here. Keep, change, stop is a conversation to have as a team. Thumb through the yearbook, project some spreads on the wall, and complete a matrix. What aspects of your program are proverbial home runs and should be keepers? What needs to be changed? (Remain proactive and brainstorm solutions.) What needs to be stopped? At TRL 23, we sat down with four advisers to learn their takes.

Watch the full interview on Treering’s Facebook page.

Katie Thomas, Elk Grove, CA

We first met Katie Thomas when she became the yearbook coordinator for her daughters’ K-8 school midway through the year. As the lone parent volunteer, she sold 60 yearbooks in a week and now oversees the middle school club.

For Thomas, cover contests are a keeper. She said each year the school has a theme and she loves how the yearbook club chooses to “intertwine” it with the theme they select.

Moving forward, she’s going to change up the interview process for students in favor of more journalistic writing. “We want to make sure that there are more voices heard,” she said. “This is a student-produced yearbook.” 

This year she stopped having multiple editors share a spread. “I learned the hard way,” she said about having students edit each other’s work without a formative peer editing process. 

Janet Yieh, San Francisco, CA

Like Thomas, Janet Yieh began as a parent volunteer. Now, she’s transitioned the club from an after school activity to a school day program with 19 middle schoolers. 

For the foreseeable future, Yieh will keep giving away yearbooks. Last year it was 100. “We are in San Francisco, and it's an urban environment. We have many families who qualify for free and reduced lunch,” she said. To ensure all eighth graders leave with a yearbook, she adds a small fundraiser to the cost of each book and pushes Treering’s early discount. Since many families take advantage of the sale, Yieh “buys into every single fundraising dollar.” To distribute the books, she creates a contest to win a yearbook so no one is singled out.

She is going to change up the class structure by inviting more experts to share with the club and creating some lesson plans for her students. Last year Yieh piloted this idea with her boss who went to design school. This year, an English teacher will guest teach on writing. “I'm a mom. I'm not a teacher,” said Yieh. “I'm trying to personally create curriculum for them to follow each week.”

While Yieh’s students led the design concept, she’s stopping their theme-less tradition. “If we create a foundation, it will be much easier when it's time to actually pop the photos into their pages.” 

Chris Frost, Hemet, CA

“I was a student editor on this exact book, which I'm super proud of,” Christ Frost said. Because he knows the value of ownership, he keeps the tradition of a student-led yearbook program. “Our students decide everything. They pick our theme. They pick and design our layouts by hand because they like to struggle and fight with what a design should look like.” He and co-adviser Billy Valenzuela advise by keeping students on track towards their deadline.

The big change is how Frost’s students will increase representation in their yearbook. Historically, the team at West Valley High covers 80% of students beyond their school photo. That’s not enough. In repose, they created a B.O.L.O. (be on the lookout) wall with “ASB’s Most Wanted” using their coverage tracker. “It's also going to help us see who are those people that are hiding in the shadows that are in that background,” Frost said.

“This is their memory. This is their keepsake. This is a historical document. This is something that 10 years from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, they're gonna pull out and show family and there's nothing worse than opening that book up and your kid going, but where are you?”

Chris Frost

He stopped the way students received page assignments: instead of individual assignments, they are now in teams. Each team of five, led by one editor, works on five spreads at a time. Frost said, “They can delegate amongst each other… so it gives kind of a broader range on the pages.”

Beth Stacy, Huber Heights, OH

As a class adviser, Beth Stacy knows how much work her students do to identify each featured person in a photo, write body copy and captions, and place it beautifully in an effectively designed layout. 

Without hesitation, she would keep grading spreads. “Every grade or every spread is graded on pass/fail,” Stacy said. The end goal of having all spreads submitted to Stacy print-ready means students are in control of their grades. 

Stacy said, “Probably 95 to 98% of our book is taken by one parent who has kids in a bunch of activities, one teacher who is an amateur photographer, and then our professional photographer.” The yearbook culture change is student photography. She’s motivated by the fresh energy the younger team in her class brings. 

Stopping the blend of chronological and traditional coverage is top of her list. After trying it for their 75th anniversary book, she said, “It got messy and didn't work very well.” Focusing on the traditional sections such as people, student life, and sports will help returning students train new ones and also balance the load for the few dedicated computers they share. 

For more from these advisers, including their tips for getting started, favorite Treering hack, and application processes, watch the full video on Facebook.

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

In high school, Sarah Coleman joined the yearbook staff for the varsity letter. As a competitive dirt bike racer, she could not earn one through school-sponsored sports. 

The yearbook became more than just a means to a jacket.

What value did being on the yearbook team bring to your high school experience?

Student journalism was a means to be involved in everything. I got to know all the students on campus—they didn’t know me—through this inside look. I was the first-ever editor of both the yearbook and newspaper. My focus was on writing (there was another editor who led the design aspect).

Now, you’re an adviser! How have things changed?

I never thought I'd be working on the yearbook again, ever in my life. Being able to knock it out with ease was pretty cool. Photos are so much easier to upload. I see in real-time what my edits do. Also, the printed proof is the actual book. I know that even this past book, I overlooked things from the computer side that I caught on the print side. I remember we used to have paper proofs. There were no tools to show us duplicate images or an easy way to duplicate layouts. It seems archaic compared to what Treering offers.

For example, during my senior year, in February, someone knocked over our server, and we lost our entire yearbook. We had a few weeks to rebuild the layouts. It was horrible. We got it done, but it was horrible. The entire book was due by March so that we could get it by the end of the year. We also made an insert with a sticky back to include more events. It was mailed out in the summer. That was the dumbest thing. What I like about Treering is that you can go all the way through the end of the school year and still get the book back in less than a month.

You’re about to begin your second yearbook for your school. What do you do to make it special?

Because we are a smaller school with a little over 120 pages, every student gets their own spread. Their fall and spring pictures are there to show growth. I put every event in the book: big ones, like a foam party, and even the little ones, like crazy sock day.

Kids loved the custom pages. They're so excited because they made their yearbook all about them. 

How do you get all the photos?

I take photos whenever I’m out and about on campus. I tell the teachers to let me know whenever they are doing something like an experiment. Teachers tell their students, “The yearbook lady is coming; look alive.” I really hate staged photos.

Our kindergarten teacher showed the others how to put the Treering app on their phones so they could share. The church secretary also takes a lot of photos. We also encouraged our parents to log in and create an account so they could add theirs. Two moms contributed a bunch. Now that the school community has seen the yearbook, I’m hoping more will participate next year.

I’m also working on getting a digital camera for teachers to use.

Any other takeaways from your progression from a student editor to a yearbook adviser?

Treering is also economically pleasing to work with. The books are a great price and nice, thick quality. You don’t have to be a professional to have a good book. The designs available just elevate everything. 

I come from a strong yearbook culture. My mom bought every yearbook for us, and I do the same for my kids. I love that if people didn’t buy one early, they can still order it. As a creative person, it’s nice to be able to make something for others. 

Coleman's photo courtesy of Fenceposts Photography, LLC.

When “outsiders” think of yearbooks, they imagine little beyond the portrait pages. They see the obligatory blue background and big grins that accompany a moment in time many of us, as students, dreaded. (C’mon, we all didn’t receive the Glamor Shots by Deb experience!) Since this is a part of students’ permanent record, it's a necessary component. It is a part of the historical record of the school year. It’s also not our students’ favorite. Long ago, this adviser decided to decrease the size of yearbook portraits, while increasing specialized content. Here are three ideas to break up your portrait pages by adding rich, personal content.

1. By the numbers

Use stats and surveys to provide a quantifiable portrait of the students pictured on your pages. Begin by understanding what is important to your students and then ask questions. For example, if your school’s focus is on health and wellness, break down how students and staff contribute to that goal by including content such as

Pair the numbers with photographs of students engaging in the activities and quotes for an even more personal approach. What does it mean to be a part of a community so encouraging of physical activity? How do students balance their school work with tournaments and performances?

2. Keep content class-y

Grade spreads in your portrait section are ideal for academics or class-specific coverage. Highlight the unifying aspects of school life, such as class trips or advisory periods, and then ask students about their individual experiences with each. Grade sections could also include:

3. Get personal with portraits

Personality profiles and student life modules both create opportunities for an inclusive yearbook by targeting lesser known students or students with interests outside school-sponsored arts and athletics. These content modules add voices to the portrait section of your yearbook!

Take advantage of the additional space you'll create by shrinking portraits to pull out more content from your student body.

A yearbook theme isn’t just layout, graphics, fonts, and a color palette. It’s about storytelling. A developed theme goes beyond the visual, guides your coverage decisions, and sets the tone for the book. 

Treering’s design team listened to many schools’ stories during their spring focus groups. The first wave of themes reflected the visual package most schools wanted. This second one expands to add the verbal.

‍For the Record

Exploring decades from the 1950s to the 1990s, “For the Record” taps into nostalgia. With a two-page style guide of decade-specific graphics, colors, and fonts, yearbook teams can create their own “greatest hits” of the school year. 

Adding storytelling elements such as student-created playlists or superlatives presented as album covers will make your memories feel like an anthology.

Additionally, the focus groups of middle and high school advisers asked for less busy backgrounds and more texture. Usually, people would balk at "just" two backgrounds. However, having these consistent threads is why each section works as part of the whole.

Focus group participants also wanted layouts that emphasized hierarchy and had room for captions and copy. The design team gave yearbook teams this plus flexible options within this theme. They can

• Differentiate sections of the book by decades
• Use one decade to create their own throwback look

Top Secret

The declassified look at the school year is one of the most powerful storytelling mechanisms: 

• Showcase hidden gems on campus
• Use photographic clues on divider pages to make small things part of something bigger
• Deconstruct campus happenings with “mission report” sidebars

This theme builds on collage-style design elements—stamps, photo frames, textured backgrounds—but updates the look with a contemporary aesthetic. It draws from the mission vibe while keeping the layouts approachable and fun. And it works for any level of school:

• Elementary school: use playful stamps, oversized labels, and bright textures to highlight classroom memories and fun facts
• Middle school: lean into detective-style layouts such as “case file” spreads on clubs and activities
• High school: take a sleeker approach with dark backgrounds, sharp typography, and subtle textures that nod to spy dossiers without feeling gimmicky

Students will feel like they are all in on the secret together.

(Yes, this theme inspired our team: we applied some of the elements to National School Yearbook Week 2025’s programming.)

Dream Bigger and Leaving an Impression

Another focus group finding is the appeal of art styles as visual themes. The design team introduced “Gallery” in the first wave, followed by two artistic takes, “Dream Bigger” and “Leaving an Impression.”

The powers that be at Pantone called out neutrals and soft naturals for the Color of the Year 2025. The “Dream Bigger” theme leans into this popularity, offering soft washes of color and flowing shapes that stand in contrast to the textured, thicker brushstrokes of Impressionist paint used in “Leaving an Impression.” 

Whereas “Dream Bigger” is ethereal and reflective, “Leaving an Impression” is bold and dynamic. It’s a theme designed with flexibility in mind, especially for K-12 schools. 

For younger grades, it offers high-collage layouts that make it easy to include as many students as possible while keeping the design polished. For upper grades, it supports modular design, which means layouts can be broken into smaller, contained units of coverage. With modular design, every spread can tell multiple stories at once, building a richer picture of school life.

Both of these artistic themes make the perfect canvas for seeing how this year is part of a larger journey.

Student stories and voices matter. Your yearbook theme should provide a lens through which your readers can examine them. Treering can help with a collection of over 200 pre-designed themes.

Because we want our students to have the best equipment and experiences, sometimes we have to bring in extra cash. Heads up advisers: if you are looking for yearbook fundraisers to afford your book, stop reading this right now, and jump over to this article and learn how to have a debt-free yearbook program.

Fundraise by selling photos

First, the easiest way to raise money for your program is to use what you have: a captive audience, kids with cameras, and some pre-planned epic events.

1. Sell photos that are not in the book

How many times have you been asked for a copy of a photo your students captured at an event or game? Upload unpublished photos to a photo site and sell digital images or prints to parents and students.

2. Sell photos to local media

Smaller newspapers and local online news outlets will purchase athletics photos, especially in more rural areas. When you make your pitch, make sure you have a portfolio of student work.

3. Sell photo shoots

Another way to help your students build a comprehensive body of work is to offer photo sessions by your top photographers. Newer photographers on staff can assist: hold reflectors, take payment, upload, and retouch photos.

• Senior portrait mini shoots in a park
• Photo booth at Homecoming game
• Family photos at a winter all-school event

Fundraising with coverage

Second, you can add mini-ads throughout your book. These paid partnerships with parents, alumni, and business leaders don’t detract from your content and have the potential to add additional voices to your copy.

4. Page sponsors

In the folio, include a line that says “This page is sponsored by Williamstown Transportation” or “Congrats, Talia and the class of 2022! Love, The Cruz Family.” If you do traditional coverage, page sponsors can include club or athletic boosters whereas chronological coverage can be more event-focused: “QuizBowl Forever! Class of 1968 State Champs.”

5. Index letters

If you could get 26 more photos in the yearbook, would you? Break up the index with fun portraits of students holding a letter. Some schools auction the honors, others issue letters on a reservation basis. To get the most out of it, compare your coverage report to your buyer list and see which buyers are in the book the least amount of times, offer index letters to those parents first, then go after students who are in the yearbook several times and have yet to purchase one.

Yearbook fundraiser 101: personal and business dds

Advisers use ads to teach business skills: project management, budgeting, and goal-setting. They work with students on talking points and help guide them to the right potential partnerships. It's the quintessential yearbook fundraiser.

Schools with supportive communities tend to do well with business ads. If you’re just getting started, begin by analyzing your area:

• Do you serve a transient population? Partner with realtors.
• Are many parents business owners? Show them how to feature their children in their ad.
• Do you have a bevvy of athletic sponsors? Work with your athletic director to bundle a stadium ad with one with the team photos.
• Are small businesses the norm? Add a business card section.

Whatever you do, don’t try to sell yearbook ads just to pay your yearbook publisher.

Remember the fun

Because fundraiser starts with fun (cliché, we know), your strategy should as well. Celebrate all your successes along the way. For some of your yearbook team, this could be scheduling a meeting with a potential sponsor and doing the presentation. For another, it could be selling 20 photos to your district PR agent and landing an internship. Everyone who buys in should reap some reward, even you!

The easiest way to hook your reader is to use a yearbook writing technique that’s used by the pros: Put the most important stuff first.

You and your yearbook team have limited time to capture a reader’s attention—and, perhaps more importantly, limited space to tell your story—so you should be focused on hitting them with the big stuff right out of the gate.

In journalism, this writing technique is known as the inverted pyramid. In military and government briefs, it’s known as BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front).

Because the yearbook is journalistic in nature, we’ll be sticking with the term “inverted pyramid” throughout this post. But know this: Whatever you call it, the technique is an effective means of communication. And it’s one your team can use when looking to improve its yearbook writing.

Inside this post, we’ll walk you through what the inverted pyramid looks like and how you can break it down into manageable chunks.

What the inverted pyramid looks like

When it comes right down to it, the organization of your yearbook writing should look like this:

That’s an inverted pyramid.

It’s a three-tiered writing diagram that forces the most important stuff to the very top and the remainder of the story’s details into the two remaining tiers.

How to use the inverted pyramid in your yearbook writing

This approach to yearbook writing might sound obvious (or maybe even boring), but plenty of student journalists will try to tell a story in chronological order. Help them avoid that by showing them this diagram.

Put the most important stuff first

Your opening lines, or the lead, as it’s often known, should immediately state what’s special about the article. What was different about the event this year as opposed to last year? What makes this story noteworthy?

The lead should cover most of the five Ws: Who, What, When, Where and Why. These elements provide the biggest, most important pieces of information, and should be introduced early in your article.

The more interesting the news, the more reader will want the details. You’re not writing a mystery novel, so don’t try to tease your audience with page-turning suspense. You’ve got a limited time to capture their attention, so hit them with the big stuff right out of the gate.

Put the next-most important stuff second

Now that the reader is invested in the story, this is a great space to share more about the event or achievement, and the students that were involved.

After reading the headline and the lead, readers will get the basics of what happened. The middle section is your opportunity to tell more of a story. You can also expand a bit more on the how.

You can do this in a few ways, but some of the most proven tactics include:

• Relying on first-hand accounts. Relying on interviews with students and participants can help you paint a picture of what an event felt like to those who experienced it. Quotes, in particular, can help evoke emotion, which is a strong way to keep readers engaged.
• Including background details. If you can continue to build on your 5 Ws, all the better. Background details, like the time left on the clock when the basketball team scored the championship-winning basket or the number of hours it took the stagehands to build the set for the school play, helps propel a story along and give the reader a deeper understanding of what happened and why you’re writing about it.
• Using pull-quotes. Really great quotes can do more than just evoke emotion. They can also be used to break up text and add some design elements to your page or spread. Think of a pull-quote as another entry point for the reader.

Just as in the overall structure of the inverted pyramid, the middle section should begin with the most important details, and cascade down to the less essential stuff.  There aren’t clear breaks between beginning, middle, and end sections, so you don’t have to worry about where one section ends and the next begins.

Put the least-most important stuff last

If you’ve really captured your reader’s attention, they’re going to be hungry for every little bit of information they can get. (You know the binge TV watcher who seeks out fan forums online? Or the Belieber who knows lyrics to the songs that didn’t make Justin Bieber’s album? That’s the type of reader who stays until the end.)

The more you can attract an audience with the big hits, the more you can interest them in the details.

Details that would otherwise be left out belong at the end. They might be interesting, but if you need to cut them for space, it’s no big deal. Of course, you’ll want to leave the readers satisfied, so if you can finish with any kind of pithy or clever line, that will make them more likely to read your next article from start to finish. A retrospective or forward-looking quote from a student is also a nice way to draw each piece to a close.

Chances are your pages won’t be filled with text, but you’ll want to share what you’ve got in a way that makes sense. If you follow this simple formula, you’ll not only be able to highlight the year’s most memorable moments, you’ll also develop a clear and valuable method of yearbook writing from top to bottom—and that’s the point.