Treering Blog

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

David Graeve is a professional artist and full-time teacher at Houston’s Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School. As a need-based school, Cristo Rey Jesuit offers a rigorous college preparatory education that’s available to students from low-income families in the Houston area. With the pandemic and uncertainty of in-person education, Yearbook Hero David took it upon himself to identify new and innovative ways to teach students remotely while also addressing individual learning styles and needs. 

As an 11th- and 12th-grade teacher to a diverse student body—80% Latino and 20% Black—David understands the importance of preparing students for the future and exposing them to different career paths. With their yearbook creation positioned as a club at the school, the yearbook turned into the perfect tool to highlight these different career opportunities. 

Learn more about how David used yearbook creation to teach his students, many from low-income families, valuable workforce skills.

How have you used Treering Yearbooks to teach students skills they can use after high school?

Treering offers so many valuable skills for my students: skills like graphic design, marketing and communicating with customer support. These are all skills that are incredibly valuable and beneficial to life after high school. If one of my students encountered any kind of hiccup with the software this past year, I encouraged them to contact customer support on their own. Fortunately, the Treering team made this option very accessible and ultimately taught my students the importance of taking initiative and problem solving. The customer support through Treering has been fantastic. 

With Treering’s software, building the yearbook is quite easy for my students and many of them built the pages from scratch last year. This encouraged them to be creative and pursue their passions. For my students that weren’t aware of marketing or graphic design careers, yearbook creation really opened their eyes to those possibilities. 

In addition to unique skill sets, what else do you think your students learned this past year through yearbook creation?

COVID-19 truly taught my students the value of capturing real-life moments. Much of the Latino community in Houston has 2-3 family generations living under one room. This past year’s yearbook showcases so many family moments - more than any other yearbook we’ve had in the past. So although the pandemic brought forth a lot of hardship, it also brought many families closer together. I’ve seen a lot of pride shine through my students in that they’ve been able to capture those moments. 

What would you say has been the best part of using Treering this past year?

Its easy-to-use platform has taught my students how skills in the classroom can be used later on in the workforce. And how those skills - many of which have proven to be very enjoyable for them - can help them reach financial independence. I look forward to the next year in continuing our use of Treering to build onto these workforce skills. All of my students learn differently - some thrive better in the classroom while others perform better online. As a teacher, the pandemic has really shed light on the different learning styles and how we can work with different tools to ensure all students thrive. Even with the pandemic this past year, it’s critical to continue to arm our students with the skillsets they’ll need to flourish in the workforce. 

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

Five years ago, Yearbook Hero Arielle Shansky took over the yearbook production for her Classical Conversations Community. Leading a team of three in Central Florida, she also manages an online community for over 650 others via the CC Yearbook Support Facebook Group. As the default tech person in her social circles, she enjoys helping other homeschool yearbook coordinators plan and organize their yearbooks. 

What’s unique about a homeschool yearbook?

Everything is a volunteer job. There’s no budget and possibly no team to help. Most of us do not have a yearbook background and we have to create our systems from scratch.

That said, there are many opportunities to showcase families. Under each portrait, we do a mini interview so students’ thoughts flow throughout the book. We also do a “Family Spotlight” in our yearbook. Homeschool parents take tons of photos at home because that’s where the bulk of our education occurs. Normally, those never get printed, but with a yearbook, we are able to put those moments in there.

You said you love organization. What are some tips to share?

I track everything on my phone: running notes of things to do and hex codes I’m using. I can also monitor core book page progress and check book sales using the Treering app.

How else does Treering help?

The biggest thing is allowing families to upload directly to shared folders. I send out weekly reminders to our community so we get photos throughout the year. During National Yearbook Week, we are doing our big kickoff. We have a lot of new families this year, so our goals are to get everyone to log in and upload one photo. Whoever does that will get an entry into a drawing for a coffee gift card or something. Then whoever orders by the end of the month for the discount will get another entry. We are going with a Happy Yearbook Day theme for the kick-off (to the tune of happy birthday). One of the ladies is wearing a birthday hat and making a sign that she will wear around campus with a QR code to take people to the upload page and a box to drop their name in for the drawing.

The personalized pages are also great. I scan my kids’ art and the notes they write me to add to their books. I laugh because we only have one family photobook—the yearbook replaced that.

This is the heart of Treering’s Yearbook Club webinars. Teachers looking for classroom support and parent volunteers looking for a launch pad can find resources and how-tos throughout the school year at no cost.

Synchronous instruction

If you don’t speak teacher-ese (or don’t care to on your prep period), this just means it’s live. This real-time interaction means attendees receive instant responses to their questions. (Full disclosure: occasionally, we divert from the script because the group’s needs demand it.)

Direct access to expertise

See what happens when you bring together staff members from product knowledge, marketing, and community advocacy. No PowerPoint slides. No hypotheticals. All yearbook. 

We believe in show and tell

Starting at Treering.com, every webinar shows you how to create, get inspiration, and receive help. We show you how to customize your styles and settings, find marketing materials, and maximize the automations in Treering’s yearbook builder.

Each month, new advisers can join a Getting Started webinar to get an overview of the design and print process. As you progress through your yearbook journey other webinars are available, including Treering Live, our flagship virtual yearbooking event and topical sessions on portrait, advanced design, and theme development.

Your yearbook your way

Yearbook creation isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. Neither are Yearbook Club webinars. We’ll show you all your options to make your yearbook represent your population, from changing up backgrounds to creating custom word art.

The Yearbook Club team releases new Tip Tuesday videos each week on YouTube.

Community

Call it networking, if that’s your thing. In the live chat, attendees exchange ideas and strategies. 

On a personal note, I’ve met some yearbook advisers in the chat who have become contributors to this blog, and I’d like to think lifelong friends. We celebrate professional and personal milestones together. Occasionally, family pics pop into my inbox, or we text a timely yearbook meme. 

No one else understands what being a yearbook coordinator is like outside this small world. I’m going to seek support from those who do.

With Proclamation 5703, former President Ronald Reagan made yearbooks even more celebration-worthy by setting apart the first week of October for “appropriate ceremonies and activities” to recognize the creators and the power of a yearbook program. Treering intends to do just that during National School Yearbook Week, October 6-10, 2025.

Download the 2025 schedule

This National School Yearbook Week, we will crack the code on yearbook design, sales, and organization. Here’s your briefing.

‍Yearbook confidential: your briefing

Yearbook creators will have declassified access to live training, photo contests, and giveaways. (If you’re super in love with the vibe, check out the Top Secret theme that just dropped for your yearbook.)

‍Yearbook contests

There are six ways to win: one week-long yearbook Bingo game and five daily Facebook giveaways. 

‍Monday, October 6

Bingo begins. Download your unique bingo card and play along. We’ll “call” words via Meta stories (see them on Facebook and Instagram). The first verified Bingo winner will receive a Canon EOS Rebel T7 DSLR camera with an 18-55mm lens. Get the full Bingo rules here.

Additionally, yearbook creators can share their favorite fall photo to our “Operation Autumn Aesthetic” Facebook photo contest. The strongest storytelling photo will win a $50 gift card.

‍Tuesday, October 7

Share your insider ideas for photo organization on our daily Facebook giveaway post. HQ (aka Treering’s marketing department) will reward one adviser at random with a $50 gift card.

Meta stories for our week-long Bingo game will continue.

‍Wednesday, October 8

Another $50 gift card is up for grabs. We want to see your yearbook squad. The most creative team photo wins the daily Facebook post challenge. 

If a verified Bingo winner has not come forward, we will increase the calls. 

‍Thursday, October 9

Share your yearbook space, class, or desk on our daily Facebook post for the chance to win. The type-A, TikTok-inspired, and completely unhinged–we want to see them all.

‍Friday, October 10

Close National School Yearbook Week 2025 with your best sales tips or ideas for a chance to score a $50 gift card on our Facebook post.

‍Live training

Treering Live (TRL) is Treering’s flagship event. During National School Yearbook Week, TRL will have all the design training, coveted prizes, and organization inspiration that yearbook advisers have come to expect. 

‍What to expect at Treering Live: not-so-top-secret training

With your free registration, Treering Live: Yearbook Confidential features 19 sessions over two days. The programming spans from adviser basics to an interactive photography session. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to join HQ for intel, ideas, and a little undercover fun. 

The schedule, like Treering, is fully customizable. 

‍Tuesday sessions

1:00 pm PT: Opening session

1:10 pm PT: Session 1 - choose one session to attend

• Top 10 questions new advisers ask
• Yearbook design trends
• Teaching yearbook: curriculum overview

1:50 pm PT: Session 2 - choose one breakout session to attend

• Live demo: portraits
• Adviser roundtable

2:30 pm PT: Session 3  - choose one breakout session to attend

• Photo tips
• Live demo: yearbook style guides
• Getting more students in the book

3:10 pm PT: Session 4 - choose one breakout session to attend

• Anatomy of a yearbook 
• Teaching yearbook: theme

3:45 pm PT: Closing session 

Wednesday sessions

1:00 pm PT: Opening session

1:10 pm PT: Session 1 - choose one breakout session to attend

• Building your team: yearbook jobs and recruitment 
• Treering design tools
• Photo journalism (interactive session)

1:50 pm PT: Session 2 - choose one breakout session to attend

• Yearbook mistakes to avoid
• Live demo: upgrading portrait pages

2:30 pm PT: Session 3  - choose one breakout session to attend

• Top 10 questions parents ask
• Live demo: from good to great

3:10 pm PT: Session 4 - choose one breakout session to attend

• Live demo: page templates
• Teaching yearbook: writing

3:45 pm PT: Closing session 

All sessions will be available on the Yearbook Club Replay, so you can re-watch those a-ha moments and catch any sessions you missed through May 2026.

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Mission parameters: bingo rules and FAQs

The National School Yearbook Week 2025 Bingo winner must be 18 or older and a Primary Chief Editor or Chief Editor at a US Treering school for the 2025-2026 school year. No purchase is necessary to participate.

By participating, 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.

1. How do I get my bingo card?

On Monday, October 6, each player will receive an email to download a card. Each one is a unique card with a number. Save your card—you’ll need it to claim a win.

2. How will clues be called?

A third-party Bingo randomizer will randomly select words, which will be announced via Meta stories (Facebook and Instagram) and in the Zoom Events lobby during Treering Live.

3. How do I mark my card?

Print your card or track digitally. Mark off words as they are called. 

4. What counts as a bingo?

We are playing classic Bingo: a straight line of five words (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal).

5. How do I claim a win?

Email marketing@treering.com immediately with your name, Treering school, and card number. The first valid email received is the winner.

6. What happens after I email my win?

We’ll verify your card against our called words. The first valid email received is the winner.

7. Can more than one person win?

No, only the first verified winner counts.

8. What if I lose my card?

No problem, just download your card again. You may have missed some words; jump on our socials to get caught up.

9. How many rounds will we play?

There will be one round of Bingo from October 6-10, 2025.

10. What are the prizes?

The winner will receive a Canon EOS Rebel T7 DSLR camera with an 18-55mm lens. Treering will ship the camera directly to the school address associated with the winner’s Treering account.

11. Do I have to shout, “bingo?”

We aren’t going to stand in your way if you want to do the Bingo Boogie. Just remember to be the first to send an email marketing@treering.com with your name, Treering school,  and card number to claim the prize.

12. Can I play if I join late?

Yes! All of the words announced via Meta stories will remain for 24 hours. You’ll just start marking from the current clue onward. 

13. I’m a content creator. How can I share what I’m doing for National School Yearbook Week on social media?

Tag Treering Yearbooks (@treering on Facebook, @treeringcorp on Instagram and TikTok) and use the hashtags #NationalSchoolYearbookWeek, #NationalYearbookWeek, #YearbookWeek, #YearbookBingo

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Social contest rules

The National School Yearbook Week 2025 photo contest winners must be 18 or older and a member of a Treering school for the 2025-2026 school year. No purchase is necessary to participate.

Valid posts must include an original photo. No AI images allowed. By participating, 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 showcasing on www.treering.com, sharing on social media, and sharing with media.

The photo criteria will be based on its creativity, relevant emotional impact (humor is more than acceptable), and overall aesthetic appeal.

If you have any questions, contact us at marketing@treering.com.

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Nearly 30 years later, National School Yearbook Week remains a time to reminisce and a time to look forward, hopefully with a few wins for you and your yearbook program.

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Starting and finishing strong isn't just for marathons (although advising yearbook sure feels like one at times). The fall months are ideal for beginning the momentum for your yearbook program. From building your team to selecting a yearbook theme, the fall is an ideal time to begin working alongside your school community. Fall in love with these tips to crowdsource more yearbook photos during September, October, and November.

Fall celebration photos to crowdsource

Use the fun “National Holidays” to create dress up days, activities, or even sidebar coverage for your yearbook. Libraries and DEAR Time can be the focus on September 6, Read a Book Day. Photographs of students with their stuffed friends on September 9’s National Teddy Bear Day make for a cuddly sidebar that pairs well within a classroom PJ Day. And let’s face it, nothing says volunteer and teacher appreciation like National Coffee Day on September 19!

Some other fall holidays to use when sourcing photos include:

• World Smile Day on the first Friday in October
• National Coaches’ Day on October 6
• National Reptile Awareness Day on October 21
• National Sandwich Day on November 3
• National STEAM Day on November 8
• National Education Week during the week before Thanksgiving

STEAM Day on November 8 is an opportunity to show students collaborating and also gather the whole picture (pun intended) of a project from ideation to completion!

Source POV photos

Social media continues to be a steady stream of photographs and posts from the perspectives of parents, staff, and students on your campus. Commenting, “May we use this in the yearbook?” is a way to build excitement for the book and encourage a student whose photo is truly worth sharing beyond their social feed. Some Treering schools promote a hashtag that equates reprinting permission and also makes it easy to search for images.

Using photographs sourced from parents, staff, and students adds a layer of authenticity to your yearbook because it involves new perspectives. Consider crowdsourcing photos from

• Fans at athletic events
• The cast and crew of the musical
• Art students and their in-progress works
• Two students snapping the same event, from different angles
• A period of time, such as the prep hours before the Homecoming dance

As always, a call to contribute to the yearbook is also a call to purchase a yearbook. Use these fall events as opportunities to sell yearbooks as well.

Partner with classroom teachers to source yearbook photos

There are those record-keeping, awareness-raising, champions of academia on campus who photograph student activities. Those are the teachers with whom to connect. (For every teacher-storyteller on your campus, there will be one overwhelmed with the idea of one more thing to do. Know your audience.)

Classroom photos don't always have to be posed group shots of students. Classroom photographs can also include workspace photographs. Flat lays of student and teacher desks or open backpacks offer insight into personality, workstyle patterns, and any quirks. This is also a way to feature those camera-shy campus personalities.

Some teachers choose to incorporate photography in their lessons. You may use the results as a way to showcase student art and cover classroom happenings.

A digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera is what our minds associate with photographers. It’s the tool of the trade. But is it the best thing for our yearbook teams? Cell phone cameras have their own pros and cons–we’ll explore both sides so you can choose what’s best for your team.

Benefits of a DSLR

When using a DSLR, you generally* get high-quality images due to full control of the exposure triangle. These features offer greater versatility to adjust for lighting conditions, like gyms and choir concerts.  (I say generally because a con of DSLR cameras is the blind faith amateur photographers put in them. The camera alone does not make the shot.)

A DSLR also has interchangeable lenses for various scenarios:

• The nifty fifty for classroom shots
• A telephoto lens for concerts, assemblies, or sports events to capture shots without needing to be up close
• The all-purpose 18-135mm

Using a DSLR camera may help yearbook creators feel more professional—after all, you are selling the yearbook. It may unleash a new passion in students and volunteers as they master different settings.

A major con is the additional expense associated with the gear. Lenses and camera bodies do not intermingle, so if you have Nikon, Sony, and Canon in your equipment cabinet, you’ll need to take additional precautions to keep them separate.

Additionally, they can be bulky, and if you’re carrying multiple lenses, it can feel like lugging a small suitcase. Plus, not all models have Bluetooth, so transferring photos requires connecting to a computer, which can be time-consuming. Some students may feel intimidated by large cameras, so it’s worth considering if this is the best option for close-up situations.

Using a cell phone for yearbook photos

Alternatively, using your phone or tablet camera has benefits. Compact and always at hand and ideal for capturing moments on the go, cell phones are usually in the back pocket of yearbook creators. (And unless your kid is on the yearbook team, you didn’t pay for it. Score!) They are convenient and much less intrusive than their DSLR counterparts—plus when photographing camera-shy students.

The main con is that phones don’t offer as much control over camera settings. While cell phones are continuing to improve portrait and low-light modes, they may still look over-edited or may lack quality. Digital zoom is also destructive (it easts pixels) and can reduce resolution.

Tips for using cell phones

When using a cell phone to take yearbook photos,

• Shoot in well-lit conditions (natural light is always best).
• Avoid digital zoom–like my yearbook adviser always said, “Zoom with your feet.” move closer instead.
• Tap the screen to focus and adjust brightness manually by using the slider.

Can I use a tablet to take pictures?

Some schools are switching to tablets for yearbook photography because of school policies on cell phone usage. Like cell phones, they are familiar devices, especially for younger yearbook creators.

While tablets can be used for yearbook photography, they typically lack the camera quality and features found in smartphones. Using a tripod (image stabilization) and photographing in HDR (High Dynamic Range) setting will improve the crispness of photos if you don’t have a “pro” model in your budget.

Quick tips to improve your yearbook photos

Bottom line: whatever tool you use, you can take better photos by improving your composition skills. Practice by taking lots of photos at events. You’ll soon apply those framing and lighting techniques instinctively as you learn where to stand (and move) to get the best shot.

Teachers and club leaders should make a weekly habit of practicing composition techniques to improve students’ skills. We created a BINGO card to help. Play a class-wide game of coverall, have sections compete against one another (e.g., student life vs. athletics), or make it an individual activity.

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This blog is adapted from Sandra Violette’s Photography session from TRL 24 POV: I’m on the Yearbook Team. Violette, a professional photographer and PTO mom, serves on the Onboarding and Engagement Team at Treering Yearbooks.

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

That’s why we’ve created this post: Keep reading, and you’ll get great tips from experienced yearbook advisers. (This stuff is so good, by the way, that each tip is a direct quote from the adviser.) Let’s jump in.

7 yearbook tips from experienced advisers

1. How to boost creativity

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

2. How to promote your yearbook

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

3. How to keep your club manageable

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

4. How to help students feel comfortable as reporters

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

5. How to introduce design concepts

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

6. How to step into a new role

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

7. How to generate sales

“I like to print perforated, blank business cards with our yearbook sales info, then hand them out to students and families.With these handy, portable cards, my yearbook staff—whose first names and last initials all appear on the card—can generate buzz or initiate conversations about sales by handing them out to classmates and friends. At Meet-the-Teacher Night, registration or other family/school events, I always have a stack handy.”
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- Kevin Worley, Northgate Middle School

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The best part of getting yearbook tips like this from advisers? Putting them to use, of course. Remember: advice comes from experience. It took these advisers time to figure out what works (and what doesn't) for their schools' yearbooks. The same will probably be the same for you, but these yearbook tips can give you a head start on solving any challenge you may face.

Double, double, toil and trouble, are your fall yearbook sales in the rubble? Well, you’ve come to the right yearbook promotion page. Say it with us: pumpkin spice and everything nice, pumpkin spice and everything nice. Just kidding. A fun fall chant isn’t going to help, but we have a few easy yearbook promotion ideas highlighted below to increase your yearbook sales during the fall holidays

The fall holidays, in particular, are a great time frame to sell your yearbooks because parents and students have that feel-good feeling about yearbooks, especially since portrait day takes place around this time. (Or retake day—who can be perfect on the first try, right?)

Promotional idea 1: early-ghoul special

One way to market your yearbook and increase sales can be to offer a special discount. Those of us who are moms, know we love when good products go for great deals! Before Halloween, offer a fun-themed discount to the parents who buy the yearbook before Halloween before the prices get spooky. Or even after Halloween, once the costumes have been worn and the candy passed out, yearbook sales could become your next favorite holiday—like the day after Valentine’s Day. You know what we’re talking about: discounted chocolate!  

If you’re down for a special, but don’t have the time to create your own yearbook flyers, don’t witch out! We want to help by giving you a professionally designed flyer template and even sales flyers, all customizable. 

Promotional idea 2: Halloween party promotion 

Most classrooms, even virtual ones, will celebrate the spooky, fun holiday of Halloween. Classrooms will have candy and lots of chatter and you can sell a scary amount of yearbooks. During the party is a great time to take pictures of everyone dressed up and promote that those pictures will be in the yearbook. Parents want to buy yearbooks if they know their kid is in the yearbook. Have your yearbook moms take photos at each holiday party and talk up the book!

Promotional idea 3: turkey bowl giveaway 

Everyone loves free stuff! Moms, kids—we mean everyone. A fun way you can sell more yearbooks is throwing a fall holiday raffle or a giveaway. First, you can offer a giveaway for everyone that has bought a yearbook before a certain day leading up to Thanksgiving. Everyone entered can win a gift or treat, like a gift card or a recognition ad.

Second, you could have a giveaway going on at the school that doesn’t require any parents to buy yearbooks, but to promote! For this giveaway, mouth-to-mouth marketing is going to sell your yearbooks because everyone is getting excited. Offer a free yearbook for the most photo submissions, or to a random follower of your school’s page who “likes” a social media post promoting the giveaway. You can turn the Turkey Bowl giveaway into a month-long social media contest to increase your school’s social channels engagement and build momentum with each post. Check out this social media calendar with ideas on how to run your contest!

Whatever direction you choose for marketing your yearbook this fall, Treering is here to help! While reaching sales goals immediately can be witch-ful thinking, it can definitely happen over time with some creative guidance.

It’s different: there are no grades, no minimum enrollment requirement, and no mandatory, as in state-mandated attendance, slot in the schedule. While running a yearbook club is going to look different on each campus, we hope these tips from other club leaders help you grow your program.

Offer incentives for club members

Everyone starts with “What’s in it for me?” so add value to their hard work. Your students don’t get paid to work on the yearbook outside of class–heck, most of us don’t get paid to create the yearbook! We’re saints. That said, we’re the only ones who get it. Make a big deal of your students. Your yearbook club deserves to be celebrated, at a minimum, in your classroom. 

Consider the perks:

• Free yearbooks (that they receive before the student body)
• Pizza work parties
• Club shirts (consider coordinating these with your yearbook theme)
• Press passes (aka yearbook IDs for lunch and free periods)
• Free game and dance admission when they’re “working”
• Snacks

Pro tip

Yearbook Hero Janet Yieh from San Francisco suggests setting up a rotation at larger events, such as the spring dance. Photographers compose their pictures differently and, with middle schoolers, you'll probably receive different samplings of friend groups too.

What does a yearbook club do?

Successful club advisers know their budding journalists and designers need direction. We can build a structure in which they’ll thrive. 

1. Schedule regular meetings

Two meetings a week is what most advisers told us works for them. In the beginning of the year, the first meeting can be focused on all the how-to instructions with more and more independent work scheduled as the year advances or it can have a specific focus, like photography. (See what we did there?)

Pro tip

Sandy Violette from New Milford, CT spends time building a ladder before assigning pages. Then she sits with each student and uses the notes space in the Treering app to collaborate on an action plan for each spread.

2. Set up a google classroom for yearbook club

Breaking down the yearbook into manageable chunks is one way to make it appear more doable for student volunteers. In order for these parts to become whole, communication needs to be consistent and in a form with which they are familiar.

Pro tip:

Janet uses her Google Classroom to keep track of homework assignments, do event sign-ups, and post open jobs, such as tagging, that need to be accomplished. She also holds 1:1 coaching sessions because she knows, inevitably, students will have questions they won’t ask in class.

3. Do the grunt jobs yourself

Advisers should coordinate picture days (portrait, sports, and clubs) and flow the portraits. They should run the index. These are two tedious, yet critical jobs when it comes to accuracy.

Does the honor system work in a yearbook club?

Both Violette and Yieh agree: students show up and get their jobs done. They said there will be minimal issues if you set the expectations early and follow through. Communicate early. Communicate often.

If the need arises, revisit the expectations your student and their parent agreed to at the start of the year.

• Address issues early
• Follow the model: revisit the agreed-upon expectations, identify what went wrong, and document what will happen next
• Always leave it open for reconciliation

Yearbook Club is a vital record-keeping entity on your campus. Thank you for making it happen.

How do I get sports pics?

Away games in different countries or states. Middle school or underclassmen who cannot drive to away games. “Official” team photographers who do not play nice in the sandbox share snaps. Schedule changes… and no one tells the yearbook staff. Matches sometimes begin while school is in session. You cannot be everywhere. If any of these are why your sports coverage isn’t your ideal, try crowdsourcing sports photos. 

We have some actionable advice on how to get sports pics and the email copy a Treering adviser uses each season to successfully obtain photos from coaches.

Crowdsourcing increases equity

Diverse perspectives improve storytelling. 

Confession: the idea of non-journalism students having photos in the book was “cringe” to me initially. A junior named Victoria challenged me when we adopted a storybook theme. She wanted to add six Instagram photos to each spread to show all the stories on campus. We created a submission hashtag. From an opossum who raided the football team’s bags before a two-hour commute to the dance company’s trip being rained out at Disneyland, the yearbook team acquired stories that normally wouldn’t be in the book. 

Fast forward a few years, and a friend drops this truth: “If you want your book to look like your school, your school needs to help you build your book.”

Set up a submission system

If necessary, provide a checklist for photo submissions, including preferred formats, resolution requirements, and what types of moments to capture. Most newer cell phones—aka the ones everyone but my kid has—take good enough photos for including in your yearbook. Communicate your asks using social media, newsletters, and direct communication to inform the school community about how and where to submit photos. 

[Image: shared photo folders with dropdown menu]

Caption: Editors can create shared photo folders so teachers, parents, and students can email photographs from their devices directly to the yearbook folders.

What does your school use to share files and folders? Tap into that existing system with Treering’s crowdsourcing tools. In addition to shared folders, Treering also has DropBox, Facebook, Instagram, and Google Drive integrations.

Before each sport season:

Connect with the athletic director to outline your plan. Ask for schedules, rosters, and coaches’ contact information. If you do a picture day for all the teams (I highly recommend it), use this time to coordinate dates and times.

Introduce yourself to the coaches individually. Make sure they each know any deadlines you have or scheduled team photo dates. Give them direct access to submit photographs for the yearbook. If relevant, introduce the students who will cover that team.

Reach out to parents. Parents want to know if their child will be in the yearbook. Give parents the info to submit photos and give them a few ideas of what you want. Chances are there is a parent in the stands with a DSLR snapping away. 

During each sport season

Communicate Often. Please do not wait until the end of a season to send a “We have no photos of the X team” message. If you have no coverage two weeks into the season, it’s time to b-e-a-g-g-r-e-s-s-i-v-e!

• Have your photographers pass out info to parents with cameras at the game (Bonus: if your photogs are present, you will have coverage. Phew!)
• Resend links to shared photo folders the night of a game to parents
• Try the email strategy below

The email to coaches

Yearbook adviser Kristie M. communicates regularly to the boosters and team parents to get the photos she needs. At the beginning of the season, she sends info on shared folders to each.

She also works with the athletic director at her school to connect with team parents. The AD sends the email below mid-season to the parents of players. 

[Image: mock up]

Four reasons it works

With the right amount of positive peer pressure, Kristie creates FOMO while giving parents a pathway to participate. It ticks all the marketing boxes.

• It’s an easy ask: there’s only one “deliverable,” a team photo.
• It’s a timely ask: all the basketball teams have weekend games and students will be in uniform.
• It’s a specific ask: Kristie identifies which teams are missing and provides a link for parents to submit photos.
• It’s a targeted ask: only basketball parents received this email.

To read Kristie’s full email and adapt it to your school community, click here.

It’s more than sports

Groups such as the marching band, poms, cheer team, and spirit squad, among others, are also at these sporting events. (Heck, sometimes the band is bigger than the team!) Include them in your sports coverage by doing a Friday night timeline that begins with ASB and the facilities team setting up and ends with post-game traditions. Create opportunities for parents, sponsors, directors, and group members to contribute the same way you did for sports teams. Incorporate a way for fans to add crowd photos.

Again, multiple perspectives improve our storytelling.

Retro yearbook theme packages offer a nostalgic twist to your yearbook, bringing back the charm of past eras. They can transport you to different times and evoke a sense of nostalgia. Nostalgia in design is powerful. Fueled by shared experiences and moments with others, it reinforces feelings of connectedness and belonging. Embracing these themes can give your yearbook a bridge between past and present for your collective memories.

What Is retro graphic design?

Retro yearbook themes use elements that are typically associated with non-contemporary looks. From vintage illustrations to classic color palettes, we’ll break down each decade in design below. Consider this the Eras Tour of Treering.

2000s and Y2K aesthetic

Since retro typically refers to events 20 years past, we begin with the advent of internet-influenced design. Remember when we stockpiled groceries and awaited the digital doomsday? A yearbook influenced by the turn of the millennium is characterized by a distinct blend of futuristic and traditional elements layered:

• High-energy color palettes, metallics, and iridescent shades
• Digital distortions and drop shadows
• Abstract and geometric shapes

1990s design for your yearbook

With the rise of technology, artists began to explore digital mediums to create interactive and multimedia artworks. The themes of the nineties centered around identity. In pop culture, it was the era of Friends and TGIF, and design often incorporated references to these cultural phenomena. With desktop publishing becoming more available to consumers, emerging designers pushed the boundaries of traditional design rules to use asymmetrical arrangements and overlapping elements. 

A throwback theme from the 1980s

Famously, the bold colors and gestural brushwork of Neo-Expressionism dominate eighties design. It’s also the period that saw the rise of digital technology, a pop culture explosion, and a distinct visual style that continues to be recognized and celebrated during spirit weeks across the nation.

It’s not a 1980s-inspired retro yearbook theme if it doesn’t include some of these:

• Neon colors
• Geometric shapes, preferably layered with a glow effect
• Airbrushing and gradients
• Maximalism and excess
• 8- or 16-bit art

The 1970s' influence on design

Graphic artists of the 1970s made ideas and concepts the focus over traditional artistic mediums. Artists often challenged the notion of art as a physical object. The color palette of the time featured earthy and warm tones, including browns, oranges, yellows, and olive greens. These colors were reflective of the era's emphasis on nature and a more relaxed, organic aesthetic. While disco culture inspired illustrations with a sense of movement and rhythm, typography also showed some personality with exaggerated serifs, curves, and swashes.

Consider your distribution party for your retro-themed yearbook a piece of performance art.

Taking it way back to the 1960s

This was the decade of contrasts. Pop art and its bright colors celebrated mass culture, consumerism, and everyday objects at the start of the 1960s. Remember the soup cans? Later, major socio-political shifts impacted design and this period became synonymous with breaking away from the norm. 

A yearbook with a counter-culture theme might want to incorporate retro elements inspired by

• Mod influences from the Beatles and the subsequent British invasion
• Op art: those wavy lines and swirls you associate with 1969’s iconic music festival, Woodstock
• Eclectic or maximalist approaches to convey a contrast

Future implications

Consider this: your grandkids will produce a retro yearbook theme using key design trends from the 2020s: eco-conscious and minimalistic with sensory-friendly and accessible design.

It’s fall, and we’re all going crazy about yearbook themes. After your team decides on the collective story to tell, consider how you will communicate it visually. If you haven’t yet, use student art on the yearbook cover to celebrate and showcase the diverse talents of the student body. It adds a unique, only-on-our-campus touch, which we love. After all, customization is our thing.

Custom cover advice from the pros

The Treering Design Team helps roughly 200 schools annually with their cover issues. The biggest piece of advice: make sure you have enough bleed. This keeps art from being cut off in the scanning process. We always say to get those printed proofs ordered early; this is one more reason.

They also suggest advisers understand the technical requirements so your art prints sharply and vibrantly: 

• Scan the page at 300 DPI or higher
• Save it as a JPG or PNG
• Upload the image to Treering as a photo

Ideas for gathering student art

Student art is that simple: it’s art from students. Whether you source it through an intra-campus partnership or create a school-wide drive, the goal is to achieve a personal, unique-to-us impact.

Cover collaborations

Class projects, such as collaborations with art teachers, get students outside the yearbook room involved. (And really, this is marketing gold: you’re building a relationship with a group who are now stakeholders in your final project.) 

Yearbook volunteer Lauren D. shared how they went from classroom to yearbook cover with an art project at Normandale Elementary. The art teacher used batik patterns made by her students into creatures for their yearbook cover.

How to do a yearbook cover art contest

“I believe that students should be the driving force behind the yearbook's design,” said yearbook Adviser Julie R. She uses a cover contest to showcase student art. She asks students to use school colors and to “represent what learning and school look like to them.” Her yearbook team looks through the submissions and selects the one that most authentically captures the year.

If you share Julie’s POV and want to do your own contest, you’ll want to communicate the following:

• Dates for the contest: submission window, evaluation period, and announcement of the winner(s)
• Art requirements: paper size and orientation, medium, required elements (e.g., school motto)
• Judging criteria
• If you have any grade or class restrictions (some schools hold the contest with the highest grade or limit it to students in the art program)

Explain the contest rules in advance to avoid unnecessary tears, hurt feelings, and frustration.  Depending on the number of entries received, all can be included in the yearbook. Check out how these schools integrated their runners-up.

Student art on the front and back cover 

This is the most popular approach: the winner on the front and runners-up on the back.

Student art throughout the book

Think about it: if you asked students to represent your verbal theme through their submissions, why wouldn’t you use their interpretations throughout the book?

Tag us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X) to show us how you use student talent to foster pride in your school community.