Writing

Raise your hand if you do your best proofing after the yearbook goes to print. We've all had that cringe moment when you notice two baseball players' names interchanged in the sports section or the student who joined the second semester flowed with the wrong class. We can all agree: proofing is critical for the yearbook creation process. Consistency and the proper tools will help you ensure no mistakes slip through the cracks.

One-Time: Printed Proof

Would you like a copy of your yearbook before distribution day to check your fonts, colors, layout, cover texture, and photo quality? We've got you.

Once your yearbook is approximately 70% complete, order a printed proof of your yearbook to review the following:

• Cover alignment and bleed
• Portraits (accuracy, name size, and font)
• Gutter
• Bleed and margins
• Font choices, sizes, and colors
• Background contrast
• Spelling and attribution
• Photo clarity and color

Monthly: Use PDF Proofs

Print out a hard copy. Errors that are missed on the screen often jump out on paper. Create PDF proofs of class, event, club, and athletic pages to provide to the appropriate stakeholders for their review. Ask them:

• Is the content accurate? Is anything missing?
• Are names spelled correctly and referencing the correct person?
• Do these photos accurately represent the page's content and our student body?

Remember they need some time to review it, and should it require changes, you will need time to incorporate them.

Text Proofreading Tips

Read all captions, pull quotes, and headlines out loud. It may feel silly, and once you do it, you will see and hear the value:

• Tone, word choice, and sentence structure pop when you read them out loud
• If all your writing sounds the same, you may want to mix up sentence structure or type

Proofing Yearbook Quotes

Proofing is essential if your school uses expanded captions, pull quotes, or <gasp> senior quotes. A transcription tool for interviews, such as Otter.ai, which integrates with Google Docs, is handy for recording conversations.

Quotes must not be taken out of context. We do not alter quotations, even to correct grammatical errors or word usage. If a quotation is flawed because of grammar or lack of clarity, it may be paraphrased in a way that is completely true to the original quote. If a quote's meaning is too murky to be paraphrased accurately, it should not be used. Ellipses should be used rarely and must not alter the speaker’s meaning.

AP Style Guide

(Here's an article from CBS News and one from Slate that addresses language learners to review with your students.)

Sharing is Caring: Use Printed Proofs to Tease the Book

This isn't the first time we’ll make this suggestion, and it won't be the last.

Ongoing: Rubrics and Checklists

The best time to begin proofing yearbook spreads is after you’ve finished each page and well before you need to go to print. Informal editing can happen on screen with an editor or adviser. We also highly recommend peer editing on a projector with the whole team. Use a rubric to help guide the conversation.

Proofing and editing aren't a one-and-done thing. (Sorry not sorry!) It takes time to craft the perfect story and to create a solid layout from scratch. And if DIY is not your thing, the thousands of layout templates in the Treering library are at your disposal.

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."

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."

On the way home in the carpool, yearbook mom Kristie overheard her daughter and three friends talking about their yearbooks staying overnight at school so their teacher could look them over and cover up things like “stinky skunk” and “Chungus.” There were hurt feelings and students who felt uncomfortable through the yearbook signing process.

Kristie said, "The kids are constantly being talked to about kindness and all that jazz, and I think much of what happened today was one kid thinking they’re hilarious and the other thinking they smell like a skunk."

Bottom line: we haven't taught our kids how to sign a yearbook.

[Old lady voice] When I was in high school, I had already combed my parents' yearbooks and learned their deep secrets. I knew the art of reserving a page in my BFF's yearbook so I could fill it with Spice Girls' lyrics, inside jokes, and the obligatory, "Thanks for always being there for me." I wasn't commenting on her posts daily and DM'ing her. Her yearbook was the one-stop shop to confess my deep admiration and devotion.

For those who weren't in my circle in the quad, a shorter message strategically squeezed between longer passages made it look as though I ran out of room. (The winning formula is below.)

How Do You Sign a Yearbook for Someone You Don't Really Know?

1. Spell names correctly
2. Choose something specific to call out
3. Say thank you for being you: Gen, I love your smile. Thanks for sharing it with the world.
4. Sign your first and last name

How Do You Sign a Yearbook for Someone Who's Not Your BFF?

1. Spell names correctly
2. Find something positive to say
3. Say thank you for being you: Paulo, You are confident in your abilities. Thanks for sharing your interest in horses with us.
4. Sign your first and last name

Yearbook Signing for the Besties

Add Yearbook Lingo

Some things never change; we bet every 90s mom has two or three of these acronyms in her yearbook.

• BF Boyfriend
• BFF Best friend forever
• GF Girlfriend
• HAGS Have a Great Summer
• KIT Keep in Touch
• LYLAS Love you like a sister
• TTFN Ta-ta for now

Add Variety

Creative yearbook signing ideas, such as adding in song lyrics or writing messages in a more artistic form, break up the passages from others.

Remember, your signature will last as long as that book. Make it count.

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:

1. Stories and people change.
   If you're pulling out meaningful quotes from your subjects, you could ask the same question to three different students and receive three unique POVs.
2. Stuff happens.
   Anyone who made a yearbook in 2020 knows the pain of filling pages. Global pandemics aside, events get canceled. Photographers don't show up. Parents don't always email photos. Evergreen content will help fill in the gaps.
3. "I have nothing to do." - Yearbook Student
   We're with you: there is always something to do. That said, building out evergreen content for your yearbook as a weekly assignment will give students a way to hone interviewing skills and give you a collection from which to draw if #2 above happens.

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

• Research rumors about the school: secret hallways, urban legends, hidden treasures
• If you could change one thing about the school, what would it be?
• What school hacks do you use?
• How do you pass time during passing periods?
• School uniforms: how do you express your personal style?
• If you were cooking for the school, what would you make?
• What are the best playground games?

Routine

• What's your morning routine?
• How do you get it all done?
• What's your commute like?
• What's in your backpack?
• What will you never leave home without?
• Lunch: how do you spend your time? Who has the most drool-worthy lunch?

People

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

Milestones

• What was your first job, concert, etc.? (Here are a bunch more to ask teachers!)
• Describe getting your driver’s license.
• What do you do with your (summer) job wages?
• When was the last time you were grounded? Why?
• Which childhood foods will you eat forever?
• What is your biggest change in the last four years?

Interests

• What are you passionate about?
• What activities do you do outside of school?
• What is a must-see place in town?
• Who do you look up to? Why?

Academics

• Most embarrassing moments
• Worst school-related nightmares
• This year I was proud of…
• Lightbulb moments
• SAT/ACT/CLT prep strategies
• How do you prepare for finals?
• What do you do with your summer job earnings?
• What's next?

Athletics

• What makes us different than our rivals?
• What non-school sports are you involved in?
• How do you stay in shape during the off-season?
• For bi-sport and tri-sport athletes: How is training for [sport] different than [sport]?
• How do you balance being a student-athlete?
• What is your pre-game playlist?
• What traditions does the team have?

Bonus: Trending Topics

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

• What’s in the news this year?
• Rock the vote: politics in school
• Fashion trends and style inspiration
• All about hair, makeup, and beauty
• Favorite TV shows, music artists, and movies
• Viral dance moves of the year
• Your go-to memes/gifs
• New technology

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

What is a colophon anyway? Publishers include this vital piece to record production notes and sometimes acknowledgments. Since your yearbook is a historical document, including a colophon adds professionalism to your publication. But it doesn’t have to be boring! Below are three examples of yearbook colophons that include theme details, shout-outs, and yearbook staffing information. 

Essential Components for Your Yearbook Colophon

1. Title of yearbook and theme information: include any behind the design information
2. Book details: the number of pages, cover type, and paper weight
3. Design specs: font names sizes and use cases
4. Photography credits: Identify your portrait photographer, staff photographers, and any volunteer super parents who contributed
5. Software tools: list which applications you used to build your book
6. Publisher information: name of the publisher and the names of the publishing staff who helped

Thematic Colophons

Both of these colophons leverage their themes (Stay Gold and Speak Life, respectively) with the headlines as well as the graphics. (The actual copy of their colophons is below for you to use.)

A Bold Colophon

We love this one because it features the yearbook team, gives the book details in an easy-to-read format, and both editors have space to say thank you.

Yearbook Colophon Template

To create a quick colophon, copy and paste the following in your yearbook. Make it your own by giving behind-the-design details.

[Yearbook name] is produced by [School Name] in [City, State] and published by Treering Yearbooks in San Mateo, CA. The [hard- and/or softcover] yearbooks are [matte or glossy] finish [with upgraded embossing or foil]. The book's [number] pages are printed in full color on 100lb. sustainably sourced paper—the Treering standard. We used the Treering app for the layouts; [if applicable, list software used to make photo illustrations]. The theme art is [theme name from Treering] and [name] designed the cover. Headlines are [font and size] with subheadings in [font and size]. Body copy is [font and size]. [Photographer] took the school portraits and [parents, coaches, non-yearbook students] contributed [team, event, and/or candid] photos.

Celebrating the students on campus—all of them—is what we love most about inclusive yearbooks. This year, the theme for Scholastic Journalism Week is “Amplifying Voices.” If you’re participating, or here for inspiration, here are some ways to integrate Scholastic Journalism Week into your school and get more students heard.

Monday: Participate in #MakingConnections

From PTA/PTO councils to journalism teachers, there are people willing to share best practices. It’s one of the reasons we love to share about Yearbook Heroes. Identify:

• Who is doing what I want to do?
• What can I learn from them?
• Who can inspire my students?
• What similar stories do we have on campus?
• Who is disconnected? How do we amplify their voice?

You may be the one to teach others—share your story! 

Tuesday: #teachmeTuesday

Because this is a celebration of scholastic journalism, take some time to teach journalism. Start with a writing lesson or practice interviewing. Collectively, you could tackle intorduce media literacy or a difficult reporting assignment such as covering the recent wildfires or tornadoes. 

Wednesday: be about the business of #SharingStories

Take advantage of our pre-planned social media calendar to jumpstart your shares. Make sure your posts feature diverse grades, activities, and subjects. This way, you show students the value individuals make to the whole of your school community.

In your yearbook, you may want to include quote packages or fill-ins to amplify voices and give students the means to share their stories.

Thursday: always fit in a #throwback

Throwback Thursdays are fun because you can do nearly anything:

1. Feature stories from alumni (don’t forget to use their yearbook photo!)
2. Collaborate with a social science teacher on campus to integrate journalism's impact on history 
3. Print and display favorite yearbook spreads or covers from the previous years

Friday: #DemocracyInAction

JEA encourages schools to use the last day of Scholastic Journalism Week to share how their schools and communities value the freedom of the press. Here are some ideas on how to participate:

Elementary Schools

• Memorize the First Amendment
• Start student-led media projects

Middle and High Schools

• Have a conversation with school administration over the Principal’s Guide for Scholastic Journalism
• Learn to evaluate sources
• Memorize the First Amendment

Your participation in Scholastic Journalism Week 2022, be it one day or all five, will show your journalism students their voices matter as well as the responsibility they have as campus advocates to be the voice of others.

As sad as it is, a lot of communities experience natural disasters, and their people must come together and rebuild. Sometimes it can be a struggle as a yearbook adviser, student editor, or team to decide whether or not to capture this historic event in your school’s yearbook, especially if you have younger students who may not fully grasp what happened. To help alleviate some of the back and forth and uncertainties, we’ve laid out a guide of best practices when covering natural disasters in your yearbook. 

Are Natural Disasters Yearbook-Worthy? 

Including current events is typically a staple for every school’s yearbook, since it is essentially a snapshot of what life was like that year. However, determining the best way to cover natural disasters, which are also considered events, isn’t always the first thing that comes to mind for yearbook editors. Or the easiest. And it’s not something for which one can completely prepare. Natural disasters can shape a school year and have an impact on everyone. Because of this, it is worth including it in the yearbook. It’s important to find uplifting ways to cover these stories when interviewing school members while respecting the boundaries of those who were impacted. 

The right words and tone can emphasize how a school showcased perseverance in the face of a tragedy.

Include Accurate and Approved Information in your Coverage 

Be it wildfires, tornados, hurricanes, or earthquakes, it’s critical to provide accurate information about the event. When looking back at a yearbook years from now, you don’t want the wrong date, for example, to be in print. The goal is for students to be able to look back to remember this part of their history. And ideally, the way it’s covered in the yearbook can show how the school and community overcame the crisis. 

Unless you’re lucky enough to have a copyright lawyer on your yearbook committee, it’s critical to understand the basics of trademark and copyright laws when deciding on if/when to use professional photos to cover a natural disaster. You always want to make sure it’s an image you are allowed to use and that it’s free to the public. If this seems like something you don’t have time to research, instead it might be worth considering stock images that are available online, licensing images from your local newspaper, or using—with permission—photos your community has captured.

Along with photos, you should also consider the statistics to highlight. It’s important to remain sensitive and not include mentions of a death toll, for example. Instead, you can focus on other hard facts like the date(s), time, location, the scale of the natural disaster, etc. in your yearbook. If your school community collected donations, include those numbers.

When it comes to deciding on what information to include, a great tip is to make sure that your yearbook committee has an editorial policy in place that can be shared with the community. Covering any kind of crisis can be difficult, and some may always disagree with the way you did it, so it’s best to have a written policy so that teachers, students, and parents can be aware of how the yearbook team will plan to cover a crisis like a natural disaster or a death in your school community. Get your administrator's signature on it.

Lessons Students Can Learn from Natural Disasters

A tragedy is not something anyone can overcome easily. It’s worth highlighting the hope of people within a community when they’re facing hardship together. Experiencing something of this nature becomes a part of one’s story and while it may take some extra dedicated time to determine how to showcase the lessons learned in a positive way, it’ll be beneficial to capture an impactful time such as this in a yearbook. 

Interview Questions for Students and Teachers Impacted by Disasters

• How did the [natural disaster] impact the community? 
• What was, or is currently, being done to help rebuild?
• Are there any stories you’re comfortable sharing about the [natural disaster’s] personal impact?
• Where were you and what were you doing as this event unfolded?
• How has the [natural disaster] impacted how you view your day-to-day life at home and at school?
• What advice would you give to students who may face a similar natural disaster crisis in the future?
• What are you grateful for after this? 
• What changes did you see within the community during and after this event?

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

• The number of miles each grade ran in the morning running club
• How many pieces of fruit the cafeteria distributed
• What percentage of students participate in dance, martial arts, or other athletic pursuits

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:

• Surveys about their favorite subject
• Class color day photos
• Academics coverage by grade level
• Class contribution to the annual fundraiser
• School hacks or advice by upper grades

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!

• Quote bars
• Ten things to do before graduation
• Cribs
• Fill in the blanks
• Cars
• Trending now
• Hang out places on campus
• Letters to my younger self

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

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

35 Super Awesome Teacher Superlatives

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

• Most likely to have a new hair style/color

• Most likely to be your friend on Facebook

• Most likely to be found enjoying nature

• Most likely to bring a pet to school

• Most likely to be seen on the big screen

• Most Likely to win Jeopardy

• Most Likely to pack their bags and travel the world

• Most likely to win a rap battle

• Best advice and wisdom

• Most friendly

• Most enthusiastic

• Most likely to create world peace

• Best storyteller

• Funniest

• Most distinguishable voice

• Most school spirit

• Most Likely to Break Out in Dance

• Most Artistic

• Best Smile

• Most likely to not give weekend homework

• Most likely to have a desk full of apples

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

• Most Inspiring

• Most Quotable

• Most intimidating vocabulary

• Best Beard

• Best wardrobe

• Scariest death glare

• Most likely to make sarcastic comments

• Most likely to scold you and give you a detention

• Most likely to be mistaken for a student

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

• Most Likely to Be Accidentally Called Mom/Dad

• Most likely to catch a student texting in class

• Best taste in music

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

Writing Your Own Yearbook Awards For Teachers

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

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

7 Stories to Help Teach Better Yearbook Writing

“The North West London Blues,” by Zadie Smith

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

“Taylor Swift Runs the World,” by Chuck Klosterman

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

“Consider the Lobster,” by David Foster Wallace

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

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

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

“Friday Night Lights,” by Buzz Bissinger

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

“The Last American Man” by Elizabeth Gilbert

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

“Death of an Innocent,” by Jon Krakauer

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

When it comes to the yearbook principal message, there’s a trick we often see with the best ones: Involvement from the yearbook adviser. We know that might sound a little odd, since your principal is the head honcho, and, let’s face it, none of us like to tell our bosses what to do. (#Awkward.) But the trick to a really good yearbook principal message isn’t just to let your principal write whatever it is he or she feels like. It’s making sure you help shape that message. Think about it: You’re the expert on the yearbook. You know the book’s theme, and how it’s being carried through on all the pages. Your principal doesn’t. That makes your viewpoint a good one for the principal to hear. Look, we know that every yearbook adviser is going to feel a different level of comfort when it comes to telling your principal what to write. If that’s not for you, there’s another way to help. Helping them how to shape what they want to say. And that’s what the rest of this post is about. Read on, and we’ll explore the most important aspects to writing a good yearbook principal message.

6 Tips For Writing a Better Yearbook Principal Message

Start with a story.

Did you know that there’s science behind storytelling? Seriously. Our brain actually reacts differently when it receives information as plain ol’ data than it does when information is delivered in a story-like format. That doesn’t mean a principal’s message needs to start with “Once upon a time…” It simply means that using more adjectives, including metaphors and sharing personal anecdotes are techniques that help a message connect with the reader—so start your message with a story.

Connect to the theme.

There is a lot going on at your school, right? That’s exactly why your yearbook has a theme. The yearbook theme serves as the unifier between all the clubs, activities, sports and classes that take place throughout the year. So it makes sense that, as the leader of the school, your message both unifies and sets the stage for that theme. Plus, tapping into the theme is a way to recognize the hard work of your yearbook team -- and a subtle way of supporting them.

Write like you talk.

This is your principal's message, and it should sound like them. Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine. Avoid long words, formalities and clichés that wouldn’t be part of your vocabulary in everyday conversation. One of the benefits of keeping your language simple is that it will be easier for readers to remember and connect with your message. And that’s exactly what you want.

Show gratitude.

Remember to thank the people who worked really hard to make the yearbook—and the school year—amazing. This recognition of a job well done goes a long way, especially if you rely on a group of volunteers throughout the school year.

Be concise.

Attention spans are shorter than ever. For most people that means shorter than a goldfish. There’s a better chance that people will read your message if they can see that it won’t take much of their time.

Find an editor.

This is where you, the yearbook adviser, get to play a really big role again. Once your principal has created a message they're happy with, it's your turn to step in, and give it a good edit. Check for the other five tips, then proofread it. Doing so will ensure that their message is clear and error-free. It's the best way to make your principal's message stand out (and to save them unwanted embarrassment). Your yearbook principal message isn't just the responsibility of the principal. And it's not just letting your principal write whatever it is he or she feels like. You need to step in and help shape that message. If you use these tips, your principal will deliver his or her message better than they would have done on their own. And that'll make you a hero.