Yearbook curriculum

Whether you're scrambling at the end of the year, or trying to decide at the beginning of the year, coming up with a yearbook theme is tough. How do you come up with the title of a book that hasn’t been written? You can play it safe and gather everyone’s feedback to eventually land on a yearbook theme that everyone hates the least, or you can choose for the group, and face criticism--but no help--for your idea. Let’s be real, neither option sounds fun. I interviewed different yearbook editors to try and gather some advice to help you get started. Here are 5 questions to ask yourself, and 5 thought-provoking theme ideas to inspire creativity. 

Why Should You Run a Yearbook Cover Contest?

Academic goals are of course the primary focus at school, but consider asking the students to layout SMART (specific, measurable, action, reasonable, time) goals at the beginning of the year. Come the end of the year they can go through a self evaluation that will lend itself nicely to the story of your yearbook. Goals could be long or short term. I remember having goals to read a certain number of books throughout the school year as well as trying to make it through a day without doodling on my hands/arms/legs.

What’s popular with your students this year? 

From movies to music, snacks to snapchat, pop-culture can be a great way to get some inspiration for your theme. The benefit to using a theme centered on pop culture is it adds an extra layer of nostalgia beyond your photo and story memories. The down-side, well as a child of the ‘80’s I can honestly say the photo of me with 5 foot tall bangs and fanny pack was embarrassing enough, not sure I need to be reminded of the countless hours lost to New Kids and Nintendo.

How are your student’s different from others? 

This might seem like a difficult question, but ask your students. They will typically know what makes their school “better” than the rival neighboring school. Growing up most of my classmates lived on a lake, because of this we were all about the water sports. We knew how to waterski off the dock, build pyramids, and wakeboard. We would have loved to see this represented in the theme of our yearbook, as it was unique to our school. You don’t need to limit yourself by the schools colors, the yearbook should tell the story of one moment in time and school colors are not unique to one year.

What issues are student’s passionate about? 

Pop culture changes year-over-year and with that children become passionate about different issues facing the world today. Similar to Michael Jackson and Free Willy raising awareness on preserving and protecting the ocean and its inhabitants, today children are talking about climate change and fact checking. Lucky for them they will never understand the frustrations of the card catalog now that Alexa can answer just about all their questions. Consider what issues students are talking about in class and how they are learning to make a positive impact in our future.

Who are your student’s role models? 

You might be surprised; kids today are #woke. Gone are the days where Micheal Jordan and Madonna served as the role models of youth. Kids today are looking up to people like Elon Musk and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. They are not just aware of what’s happening in the world, but they are choosing their role models wisely. Now that you’ve asked yourself a few questions, I thought I’d share some brand new themes that might get you on the road to something truly unique for your yearbook. Below are 5 fresh themes for you to consider for your tribe.

Fingerpaint

This theme captures the spirit of imagination, similar to Harold and his purple crayon, each student has the ability to draw whatever they might need, leaving their unique handprints behind as a reminder of what they have achieved.  

STEM

Early learning experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are critical in preparing elementary school students for STEM learning in middle and high school, as well as for future careers in STEM-related fields. This theme talks to more than just the tech culture our children live in, but how schools are more focused now than ever in bringing STEM to the forefront of learning.

J[our]ney

With multiple different color options, this is a classic, bold, choice for a yearbook tribe wanting to add some graphic texture to their book.  It’s sentimental in begging the question, “What does the school care about for the year?” There are many ways to play with this theme. Consider some wordplay: 

• Y[our] goals
• Enc[our]agement
• N[our]ishment
• Study h[our]
• Y[our] story

Color Splash

It’s subtle yet elegant in the movement of the dots first flowing together then breaking off to find their own individual path, but not before first making a splash. This yearbook theme would be best for books that are text heavy, given the words will pop on the purple background, and there isn’t a lot of distracting artwork. 

Cosmic

The applications of this theme reach to infinity and beyond. From the single star that shines bright to the entire constellation of stars, our students are pushing the boundaries of learning to their outer limits. Each yearbook tells the story of just one year, whether your theme is how power corrupts, as in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, or love and loss as in Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook, (I genuinely hope those aren’t actually your themes) these ideas should help you get started. If you are looking for more inspiration, check out this handy theme generator, it might get you and your yearbook tribe a bit further on your journey. 

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

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

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

Define Your Goal

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

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

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

Cultivate Favorable Terms

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

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

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

Selling Yearbook Ads: the Potential of Your Program

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

For a lot of yearbook advisers, the question of which students end up on their yearbook staff is outside their control—even if they don’t want it to be.

And while you can do a lot to influence that question, it’s still the teacher’s equivalent to rolling of the dice. Which means you could spend a lot of time focused on building your dream yearbook staff, only to find out it can’t happen for a number of reasons outside your control.

When it comes to your yearbook program, then, don’t just ask, Who are the right students for my yearbook staff? Make sure you ask, What’s the best way to structure my yearbook staff for my students and my goals?, as well. Because that second question might set you and your yearbook staff for success in more ways than the first question ever could.

Here’s why:

Focusing on the right structure for your yearbook staff will provide these advantages:

• Ensure the work your students do is aligned with your goals for the book, giving you a better chance of meeting your goals for the book.
• Ensure your students work in roles suitable to their experience and interests, giving them an opportunity to experience success early and learn a specific set of skills that interests them.

Inside this post, we’ll explore how to organize your yearbook staff for these advantages, plus the basic positions you’ll need to fill for a successful year. Read on.

Making Your Yearbook Staff Structure Fit Your Needs

When organizing your yearbook staff, you have two choices for structure: organize your staff by responsibilities, or organize your staff by sections of the book.

Understanding the advantages (and disadvantages) of both types of yearbook staff structures will make picking the right one for your team easier. That being the case, let’s break them down.

Organizing by responsibility.

A more traditional structure for large yearbook staffs, this approach mimics the type of organizational hierarchy that students will find out in the real world. It provides each member of a staff the opportunity to work on a core responsibility, giving them better experience in a select area.

If you have a large returning group of students, this can be an easy organizational structure to implement. You’ll know your students’ strengths and interests, and you’ll be able to match them to roles that will be the best fit for them.

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

The advantage here is clear: Your students will become rockstars in their given roles. As the year progresses, so, too, will your students skills. The layouts and designs will get better, the photos will get better, the writing will get better. Hard to turn down, right?

There are, though, a couple drawbacks to organizing your staff in this fashion. For one, you need a decent sized yearbook staff—and that’s something not every yearbook adviser has. If you don’t have a class smaller than 12 students or so, you’ll likely be asking students to focus on multiple responsibilities.

For another, your job as a classroom manager will get a little hectic. Each responsibility on a yearbook staff—layout and design, copy, photography—could be taught as year-long, stand-alone courses. And if you’re students are diving deep on a specific responsibility, they’re likely to want the knowledge and challenges that come along with that deep dive. Figuring out how to teach three different subjects to three different sets of students for the entire year, then, can be challenging.

Organizing by sections of the book.

When you’re running a lean and mean yearbook staff, everyone needs to get their hands dirty on everything. And that’s exactly what this organizational structure allows.

For small yearbook staffs and for staffs where you know little about your students’ strengths and interests, giving everyone the chance to design, write and photograph allows for more exploration, skill development, and overall interest in the book.

Organizing your yearbook staff by sections of the book will give everyone a specific task, keep them focused, and help ensure each section (if not the whole book) has a cohesive feel. Pretty much everyone we’ve ever talked yearbooks with would agree it’s nice when that happens.

The biggest downside to this organizational structure is actually it’s strength: Students will get experience with lots of different responsibilities, but not a lot of experience with a single responsibility. That’s a problem, if one of your goals as a yearbook adviser is to help students develop a specific skill.

For student-run yearbook staffs, either of these organizational structures will help you set up your yearbook staff for success.

Basic Positions For Any Student-Run Yearbook Staff

Just like there’s no single, perfect organizational structure for your yearbook staff, there’s no single, perfect set of roles. There are, though, a few roles that are good starting points for shaping your staff.

Here’s a breakdown of yearbook staff positions to consider:

Editor-in-Chief

Because of the huge list of responsibilities that come with the title, nearly all editors-in-chief are returning students. Experience alone isn’t enough.

They’ll need all the tools: dedication, talent, leadership. Your editor-in-chief will be part of a small team that shapes the theme and coverage of the yearbook, and will help train new students, provide you with feedback on how the yearbook program is being run, and be part of the team that signs off on the book before it goes to print.

Editor

How you decide to structure your yearbook staff will impact how you define your editor roles. If you choose to organize your staff by responsibility, you’ll want an editor for each core area of the book: layout and design, writing, and photography. If you choose to organize your staff by sections of the book, you’ll want an editor for each section of the book.

Regardless, your editors will be lead-by-example types who are also comfortable providing guidance to staffers  and younger students. They’ll serve as coaches, and make sure students stay on theme and within the style guide constraints you and the editor-in-chief put in place. They’ll keep their pages moving or make sure their responsibilities aren’t blocking pages from being finished on time. And they’ll copy edit and proof pages before submitting to you and the editor-in-chief for final sign off before submission.

Staffer

With few exceptions, the majority of your students will be staffers.

Their primary responsibilities should include choosing the right layout for the write spread, taking photos, covering events, and writing headlines, captions and stories. Because many of your staffers will be new to yearbook, your editors will need to help guide with them. They'll work together on developing story ideas, learning to tell stories through photos, and fitting layout schemes and page designs to content.

There's plenty of work to go around when it comes to yearbook (as you know); so, making sure you have a sizable staff is worthwhile—even if that means your editorial staff is a bit smaller.

Spending more time on structuring your yearbook staff to best fit your students and your goals will do more than help you create a better book; it’ll help you deliver a more rewarding experience for the students in your program.

Much like creating a yearbook, recruiting and running a yearbook staff requires a bit of planning. The easiest and fastest way to get started, though, is to answer two simple questions:

1. Why should students join your yearbook staff?
2. What are your goals for the yearbook?

Answering these questions will help you shape your recruiting efforts and structure your yearbook staff. And don’t worry: We’re not going to spend the entire post talking about these questions; we’re going to talk instead about how answering these questions will make your yearbook staff planning far more effective. So, read on. It doesn’t matter if you’re leading a yearbook club or a yearbook class, we’ll show you how to use the answers to these questions to get your team up and running. After all, before you start deciding how your students are going to market the heck out of your yearbook, design great spreads, and beat every deadline you can throw at them, you need to have a yearbook staff in place.

Why should students join your yearbook staff?

So, why join yearbook? It’s a pretty straightforward question, really, and it’s one you might even be tossing back to your students on a yearbook staff application form. But here’s the thing: Because you’re asking yourself (and not your students) this question, you have an opportunity to shape your yearbook class or yearbook club before anyone even signs up. It’s your opportunity to align your recruiting with your yearbook program’s goals. Let’s take a look at some potential reasons for joining a yearbook staff, how they align with a yearbook adviser’s goals, and why they’re important to consider before diving into your recruiting efforts. Take these three examples:

• Express yourself creatively.
• Get better at something you already love to do.
• Learn career-oriented skills.

These may seem like three very similar reasons you’d use to persuade students to join your yearbook staff, but they’re actually very different. Understanding the nuances between each can help you better target and attract a specific type of student—you just need to know which type of students you need to achieve your goals. Let’s break down each example to further explain:

• Express yourself creatively. As reasons to join yearbook staff go, this is about as low pressure as it can get. You’re looking for students who have a creative itch and want to scratch it. They’ll be eager, no doubt about that, but you may attract a number of students who need full instruction on theme development, design theory, and following style guides. That’s not to say you won’t create a great book with your class or club; we bet you will. But some of those advanced design elements and layout techniques you’ve seen elsewhere? They may need to wait a year or two until your staff has more experience.

• Get better at something you already love to do. You’ll still be finding those creative students who want to express themselves. Using this reason, though, you’ll be more likely to find students who are passionate about a particular discipline—like photography, writing and design—and are ready for the hands-on teaching to get better at it. These students will already understand the basics of stuff like theme development, design theory, layout techniques, and will be excited to try new, more-advanced aspects of it. You’ll be focused on getting them to the “next level” that they’re aiming for.

• Learn career-oriented skills. Before we dive in here, we’ll admit: It’s probably tough to find enough students who are looking for career-focused instruction to fill out a yearbook staff. (If you can, though, good for you. And kudos to your students.) Students attracted to this reason are more likely to know what they want to do when they grow up. They’re focused on becoming graphic designers, photographers, and journalists. So, you’re not just going to be focused on getting them to the “next level,” you’ll be focused on teaching them the tools they need, like desktop publishing software and photo editing tools.

Notice how each example targets a different type of student? Recruiting a mix of students is good for your yearbook staff, but it’s important that you target each type based on the type of yearbook you want to produce. Speaking of which…

What are your goals for the yearbook?

Like we mentioned earlier, knowing your goals for your yearbook class or yearbook club will help you better recruit the types of students you need to achieve your goals. But that’s not the only reason to outline your goals before you start recruiting a yearbook staff. The idea here isn’t just to find the types of students you need; it’s also to find the types of students who will get the most out of your class or club. Take, for example, a yearbook program that has a primary goal of “producing a book that lets students tell the story of the year while expressing themselves creatively.” That’s a good goal. It’s specific and it’s achievable. (It even sounds fun!) But a career-oriented student probably isn’t going to get the most out of a yearbook club with that goal. Likewise, a yearbook class with a primary goal of “producing an award-winning yearbook that teaches students how to better use professional desktop publishing and photo editing tools” probably isn’t going to appeal as much to the creative students who aren’t interested in deepening their talents and skills as it relates to journalism and desktop publishing. But that doesn’t mean that one goal is good and the other goal isn’t. It just means that the goal and yearbook staff need to be aligned. You need to draft your goal, determine the type of student who is going to get the most out of a class or club that has the specific goal, and work to bring those students onto your staff. So, here’s an exercise:

• Draft your goal for your yearbook program.
• Be specific about what you hope the yearbook achieves, what you hope the students learn, and what you hope you’ll teach along the way.
• Determine which character traits and goals students should have to help you achieve those goals.
• Craft recruiting messages (based on those reasons we mentioned above) that speak primarily to those students.

It probably goes without saying, but you’ll want to avoid being exclusionary in your recruiting efforts and you’ll want to encourage all types of students to join the yearbook staff. While they might not have the exact traits you’re looking for, they’ll still have plenty to offer. And it’s also worth noting that you may need to adjust your goals later, depending on how successful your recruiting efforts are. That’s totally normal and, frankly, a good thing to do. When it comes to recruiting a yearbook staff, aligning your class or club goals with your students’ goals will help you better find students to join your team. It’ll make your job as an adviser easier and their job as a student more pleasant. Plus, it’ll help you create an even better 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.

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

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!” — Shari Black, North Stanly Middle School

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.)” — Kevin Worley, Northgate Middle School

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.” — Rachel White, Cherokee Christian Schools

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.” — Ben Johnson, Hutchison High School

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.” — Toni Vahlsing, Abington Friends School

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.” — Rachel White, Cherokee Christian Schools

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.” —Kevin Worley, Northgate Middle School 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.

Some days, you’re so deep into the pages of your yearbook that you can’t figure out how to solve a problem staring you in the face. That’s when you need yearbook examples from other schools. School yearbook examples can be the single best tool in your arsenal when it comes to helping you solve design problems, find fresh story ideas and layout treatments, and build a library of best practices. It’s one of the reasons Pinterest has become a super-hot resource for yearbook ideas. The problem with Pinterest (and any other “lookbook” approach), though, is that you’re never going to get a full yearbook. And you’re certainly never going to get it in print. Both those factors mean you’re missing out on a lot; namely, context and the ability to easily revisit. Why not, then, build up a library of yearbook examples from a bunch of other schools? It’s a tried-and-true approach at some of the best school yearbook programs across the country, and it’s really easy to do on your own. You just need to know where to look and who to ask. Inside this post, we’ll walk you through the reasons you should be getting your hands on other schools’ yearbook examples and how you can go about doing it.

Why You Should Be Getting Your Hands on School Yearbook Examples

We already hinted at the big reasons for grabbing yearbook samples from other schools, but let’s take a second to make it super clear. You can’t beat having a whole book, in all its context, right in front of you. Think about it: You don’t release your yearbook one spread at a time on Pinterest for your students, do you? Of course not. You give them the whole thing, in all its printed glory, because that’s what the yearbook is all about. Each page and spread builds on the other to create a story of the entire school year. While learning how other schools shape their yearbook’s narrative is reason enough to collect yearbook examples, there are others, too. Let’s explore six of them:

• Find new design ideas. It’s a lot easier to have your yearbook team work through design problems and find inspiration when you have some great examples sitting in the same room as with them. And we’re not just talking about spread designs. Other schools’ yearbooks can serve as a way to work through design issues related to everything, including mods, folios, and section breaks—with the added benefit of seeing how those designs complemented theme development, were used as templates throughout the book, etc..
• Spot trends that fit your book. A new yearbook trend seems to pop up every year. Keeping track of them can be hard, and figuring out which ones are best for your yearbook can be even harder. It’s easier to spot them—and know which ones you like—when you have a library full yearbook samples from other schools.
• Identify story angles and themes. You might not know the students featured in other schools’ yearbooks, but that doesn’t matter much. They can still be a goldmine for identifying story angles, themes, and everything else that goes into shaping your yearbook’s narrative. Granted, you won’t use this stuff verbatim, but it’ll help you and your team look at your yearbook a little differently.
• Develop best practices. If you’re lucky enough to collect a bunch of yearbook samples that your team aspires to recreate, you’ve just found the ultimate resource for developing best practices. Gather those books, ask students to find commonalities among key aspects of the yearbook, and list them out. Use that as your guide for creating your own, best-of-the-best yearbook.
• Create new takes on old features. Some features, like table of contents and superlatives, are practically synonymous with the yearbook. But that doesn’t mean they need to be treated like status quo. In fact, a lot of schools have stopped doing that. Using your library of yearbooks as examples, you can find those refreshing approaches and draw inspiration to create your own.
• Practice critiques without hurting feelings. Teaching your yearbook team how to conduct critiques is important, but it’s not always easy when the only yearbook you have on hand is your own. It can be hard to be honest when you’re worried about insulting your friend’s work, and having yearbook samples can ease that tension and give everyone a safe place from which to practice critiques. Do that, and the actual critiques your team does will be that much easier and that much more effective.

If these reasons aren’t enough, well, here’s one more for you: Collecting yearbook examples can connect you with other yearbook advisers, volunteers, and students you would have never otherwise met. Those connections, which could become totally awesome friendships or just people to give you advice and listen to your yearbook problems, can be worth more than any of the other reasons listed above.

How to Get Yearbook Examples From Other Schools

So, here’s how you can actually get your hands on yearbook samples from other schools:

• PTA/PTSA Meetings: Every PTA and PTSA is full of involved, invested parents. Some even create the yearbook. Start asking around at county-level or regional-level meetings to build yearbook connections and swap books with other schools in your area. Even if the PTA or PTSA doesn’t run the yearbook, they’ll be able to connect you to the person at the school who does.
• Principal Groups: Most principals meet in groups, whether it’s part of a school district’s requirements or a professional development opportunity. Before they go to their next meetup, have your principal ask his or her existing connections to bring a copy of their schools’ yearbooks, so you can have them. It’s an easy way to collect a bunch all at once. (Just be sure to give your principal enough books that he or she can return the favor.)
• State Associations: While most yearbook advisers likely know JEA and NSPA, the national scale of those organizations might be intimidating to some. Instead, look to your local scholastic journalism associations at the state level. These organizations can be less intimidating, and are focused solely on your helping schools in your state. Check out this list to find your state organization.
• Social Media: You’d probably be surprised at how many friends and family can be in a position to help you. And how many other people out there would be willing to help. Put out a request on Facebook or Twitter, and you’re likely to get dozens of offers for help. And don’t forget about LinkedIn. Nearly 6,000 people list themselves there as being elementary, middle, and high school yearbook advisers and volunteers.

Getting great yearbook examples for your yearbook team isn’t hard. You just need to know where to look and who to ask. Start following our tips, and you’ll quickly build a library of books that’ll help you solve design problems, find inspiration, and create a better book overall.

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.

A good yearbook staff needs to know how to write a yearbook story, but that can be easier said than done. After all, writing something that people enjoy reading takes a lot of practice—even more than yearbook design and photography. And by the time you're done working with your students on all the other aspects of creating a yearbook, well, there's not a whole bunch of time left to spend practicing how to write a yearbook story. That's why we wrote this post. In it, you'll learn five easy-to-follow tips you and your yearbook staff can start using to improve all the copy in your yearbook, especially the copy that makes up your yearbook stories. We have pointers on improving headlines, writing ledes, finding your voice, and laying out your yearbook stories. Before we get to those tips, though, we want to spend a minute on the big reason knowing how to write a yearbook story is important. And that's this: If you overlook your yearbook copy in favor of bold designs and strong photos, your yearbook is incomplete. That's because your written yearbook stories put memories in context. They tie your narrative together. They make readers want to spend more time on your pages. They make readers revisit your yearbook over time. Let's get on with those tips, then, shall we?

5 Tips for How to Write a Yearbook Story

#1: Power Up Your Headline A strong headline can make or break your yearbook story. Headlines draw readers in with a promise or a bold claim. They hold attention and create anticipation.   The best yearbook story headlines are:

• Short – they quickly summarize the content to come
• Specific – they tell readers exactly what to expect
• Standalone – they make a statement on their own
• Special – they are unique, powerful and interesting

Headlines have the power to transform a mediocre story into something truly spectacular. For example, instead of using a straightforward headline such as: The Blue Hawks’ Memorable Season Add excitement with a headline that pops: The Blue Hawks Swoop In For an End-of-Season Win! The second option ups the emotion while giving readers a reason to find out more about how the Blue Hawks overcame challenges during the season. You can even try to switch up the format of your story by using a “list headline”, such as: 5 Times the Blue Hawks Surprised Fans This Season Or: 10 Reasons We Love Cheering for Our Blue Hawks Your yearbook story’s headline not only sets reader expectations, but also sets the tone for your following narrative. Which leads us to … #2: Take A Strong Lede Lede is a journalism term for the opening section of a news story. (Need a primer on yearbook terms? Check out this blog post and interactive quiz to keep fresh.) Reporters start their articles with the most critical information, enticing readers to continue and ensuring readers grasp the story’s main message. Think about this when you write your yearbook story’s introduction. The beginning of your story should:

• Deliver on the promise made in your headline
• Give readers the critical information they need
• Introduce action, conflict or emotion
• Prompt readers to continue to learn more

Need an example? Go back to the lede of this blog post. In it, we tell you exactly why yearbook story content is critical, and how this article will help you write better stories. (If you’re reading this right now, our lede worked!) #3: Be an Active Writer To write active and entertaining yearbook stories, you need to use active and entertaining language. And this means writing in the active voice. For those who need a refresher, active voice is when the subject of a sentence is doing the action, while passive voice is when the subject of a sentence is being acted upon. An example of passive voice: The team was cheered on by hundreds of fans. This sentence falls flat, because the fans are acting upon the subject (the team). It’s easy to switch to active voice, however: Hundreds of fans cheered on the team. In this new sentence, the subject of the sentence (hundreds of fans) performs the action.   Another way to keep your writing active is to use strong verbs. Verbs are words used to describe an action – and they can be strong or weak. “To be” verbs such as “am, is, are, was, were” often weaken a sentence. Here’s an example of a weak verb at play: The debate team is responsible for researching their topics. Here’s the same sentence, using a strong verb: The debate team investigates their topics. Strong verbs convey more meaning than weak verbs, and help bring a yearbook story to life. #4: Give It Some Voice Quotes and testimonials from students, parents, faculty and staff are great ways to bring both personality and personal meaning to your yearbook stories. Whenever possible, include statements from the individuals who were directly involved in the stories you’re recapping.

• Interview the swimming star on her big win.
• Ask a science student about his favorite experiment.
• Talk to a teacher about how her students changed over the year.

These individual moments will give your yearbook stories more context and emotion. #5: Design Your Yearbook Copy While you may think of copy and design as two separate entities, design plays an important role in your copy's readability. The right fonts, layout and sentence structure all work together to move a reader easily and comfortably through a yearbook story. Here are some ways to better design your content:

• Keep sentences and paragraphs short.
• Cut out unnecessary words.
• Add subheads to divide stories into sections.
• Break up text with call-out quotations or facts.
• Use bullet points to list short moments or stories.
• Keep fonts simple – select one font style for headlines and one for body copy.

Finally, in both content and general page design, be aware of white space. Don’t fill every blank spot with text or imagery; let your story breathe. When it comes to creating a yearbook, knowing how to write a yearbook story is important stuff. Even if great writing takes a lot of practice, there are some easy-to-follow tips that will get you closer by the day. Follow them, and take time to write focused, meaningful and engaging yearbook stories. You'll end up with a stronger picture of your school year.

After the holiday break, it’s easy to slip into a little bit of a funk. The winter blahs are setting in and your yearbook progress might begin to stall. Don't let that happen. Whether you decide to give your yearbook staff motivation through playlists, famous movie clips, or good ol' fashion praise, it's your job as the editor to make sure everyone stays pumped. And it's not too hard to do. Read on for the best motivation ideas you'll find for your yearbook team.

Show Your Progress

The road can look exhausting until you turn your head and realize how far you’ve already come. Take a moment to celebrate the victories of the first half of the year and show how much you’ve already accomplished. One idea is to create an infographic to show the progress by the numbers. HubSpot has a library of infographic templates that you can download, and they're even available in PowerPoint format. Here are some ideas for stats you can capture to give your yearbook staff motivation in the new year:

• How many spreads have been put to bed
• Which sections are complete
• How many photos have been taken
• How much you’ve raised in ad revenue
• The number of quotes you’ve scooped
• How many words you’ve written
• The number of yearbooks purchased

Remember, it’s perfectly acceptable to showcase accomplishments without staggering numbers—there’s a lot to be said about creating “one amazing theme” or designing “one imaginative cover.” Take pride and share all these factoids with your team. Another way to show progress is to do a little show-and-tell. Select five or so of your favorite spreads and share them with the team. If you have a designated space, you can create a Wall of Fame. If not, create a quick email blast to your crew telling them, “This is why I am so proud of us.” This will unite the group and get them driving again towards a common goal.

Set Goals to Create Urgency

A little bit of urgency can also go a long way. After these breaks, there’s guaranteed to be a little hiccup, because people need to get back in the groove, and they might not know where to start. But if there’s no reason to dive back into battle, your committee won’t really feel the need to jump back in right away—which can turn a little hiccup into a big traffic jam. Here are some ways you can help to create a sense of urgency with your team:

• Make it easy for the team to get back to work by creating a punch list of things that need to be done within the next two weeks.
• Set a timeline in the form of a countdown. Figure out how many days you have left until your final deadline and break it up into smaller, more manageable goals. Share the whole timeline but emphasize the most immediate deadline. You can create a poster, write it on a whiteboard, or send an email with the subject “8 Days to Go!”
• When items are checked off the list, show some appreciation. Send a nice note, give a high-five, or share a motivating quote. Recognition is always important, but this is the time of year that your team needs to feel like rockstars.

Light a Fire

Forgive the sports metaphor, but let’s be real—it’s halftime. If Hollywood has taught us anything, it’s that this is the point where the coach gathers the team and gives a heartfelt and inspiring speech, so the players are ready to get back out there, rally, conquer, and win the game. Taking this opportunity to give your yearbook staff motivation can carry your team to the finish line. If you’ve got the soul of a coach, just go for it:

• Gather the committee into a tightly-knit group—preferably in a huddled circle. (You can even ask them to take a knee if you want to make an impact.)
• Tell your committee what they’re going to do, who they’re going to do it for, and how they’re going to do it—together.
• Instill confidence and pride, steal a few lines from Braveheart (or Independence Day, Knute Rockne, or what have you), and let them know what’s what.

If your inner Madden isn’t quite ready for his debut, you can always bring the pep through an alternative source. Share a famous halftime speech from Youtube, create an “Eye of the Tiger” playlist on Spotify, or reach out to a peer to motivate the team. Honestly, it’s the intention that counts—show them you care. At the end of the day, you just need to get your team to shake out the cobwebs and get a fresh start. Your committee is amazing and they want to do great work; they just might need a little push to get things started again. Show them how far you’ve come and create an atmosphere that will produce the excellence you need in the coming months. Your yearbook deadlines will thank you.

Sometimes we like to think of the yearbook as a big, metaphorical ‘Thank You’ note to the school. Thanks for the laughter. Thanks for the learning. Thanks for the memories. We have infinite gratitude for the yearbook advisers and committee members that pour their very souls into the creation of these beloved tomes. We know about the long hours you put in agonizing over layouts and ladders. We appreciate the care that goes into creating a knockout mod or crafting the perfect headline. We understand the weight you are shouldering in working to perfectly capture the school year. We get it. And we are so thankful for that hard work and dedication. This is a good time of year to take a break and admire just how far you’ve come on this year’s book. Take a breath and look at that amazing theme, those punderful headlines, and the stunning photos. Mesmerizing, isn’t it? As long as we’re playing the gratitude game, we’re also going to take a moment and think of why we are thankful for yearbooks themselves.

Why We Are Thankful for the Yearbook Experience

We get to know the student body. Sometimes a school can feel like a sea of bodies in constant motion, ebbing and flowing between the classrooms. The yearbook gives you the opportunity to bring it back to a personal level. At the very least, you are matching names with faces. But more often than not, you are crafting stories and finding sources, reaching out to people you may never have approached if it weren’t for yearbook. We get to focus on the details. Think of all the random information you’ve garnered over the past few months. Because of yearbook, you know that you can’t play field hockey left-handed. You also know that the soccer moms are very superstitious and Nirvana is getting big again. We’re creating something that will last for decades. Students’ memories today are heavily invested in digital media. If we learned anything from MySpace or Friendster, it’s that these mediums aren’t the most dependable. A yearbook is an unwavering record of the time a student spent in school. #PrintMediaIsForever We can take photos all the time without looking like crazies. There’s a special freedom that comes with being a yearbook photographer. You are able to weave in and out of the crowd and snap pictures without having to explain. We learn to speak in code. (Sort of.) “Can you adjust the kerning so the pull quote doesn’t travel into the gutter?” “Is there room to expand the mod by a pica or two so we lose the orphan in the block text?” I mean. Seriously. How cool are we? (Very cool. Obviously.) We get to try new things. You’ll attend more activities than anyone else at the school. You will get to experience the anxious exhilaration of the Spelling Bee Finals. You will be obligated to taste the goods at the bake sale. You will get to see the pure joy that comes from nailing a jump shot at the buzzer. We dream big and find inspiration everywhere. Once you get yearbook on the brain, it’s a stubborn bug to shake. You will be finding fonts in the Chinese takeout menu and a color scheme in your grandma’s afghan. You will find inspiring images to emulate and smile with pride when you manage to pull them off.

Yearbook is a Gift

Working on the yearbook is an incomparable experience, one that we would not trade for the world. This is the perfect time of year to take a break and really consider why you are willing to sacrifice so much of your time and energy into creating the perfect yearbook for your student body. Think of the experiences and knowledge that you cherish the most. What are you thankful for? Take this gratitude and bottle it up for a rainy day. And next time you’re banging your head against the wall as the deadlines steadily creep up from the shadows, remember that you are doing this for a reason, and there is so much to be thankful for.

There are some pages in your yearbook that practically write themselves. Your sports pages are not those pages. Because each new season brings a new story, you’ve got a ton of new stories to capture for your yearbook. Luckily, you can do that a little more easily (and a little better than before) with one change: use a survey. A survey is a simple tool that will make your information collecting way easier. Send it to each team’s coach, have a “return by” deadline, and watch the information roll in. It’s so good, in fact, it’ll deliver all the basic information you need to produce the pages for your sports teams—and then some. To get you started, we created a free survey template for you. But read on. We'll walk you through how to use it and how it can help you make your sports pages the best your yearbook has ever seen.

What Your Survey Should Include

It’s best to start your survey with the basics, like the names, numbers, and correct spellings of all players and coaches; the schedule; and the key dates in the season. This type of information isn’t “nice to have;” it’s the information you need to create a page for each of your sports teams. If that’s all you have time for, that’s okay. Everything else is gravy, as they say. If you have more time and resources, though, go bigger. Get the type of information only someone who is around the team every day would know. Ask about traditions, interesting storylines, and off-the-field lessons team members have learned. It’s this type of information that will get you the beginnings of a narrative.

When You Should Send Your Survey

The best time to send your survey depends on the type of sports pages you’ll be running in your yearbook. So, let’s break it down by type:

• Basic Yearbook Sports Page. When you’re running a basic sports page or spread, you don’t need to send your survey until after the season is over. In fact, it’s better that way. You can collect the information mentioned above along with the team’s results (scores, win-loss records, stat leaders) for inclusion.

• Magazine-Style Yearbook Sports Page. If your approach to the yearbook is inspired by great magazine journalism, you’ll want to send your survey before the start of the season. Collecting basic—and colorful—information that early will allow you to plan what games you’ll be going to, which players you’ll be interviewing, and how many resources you need to dedicate to the coverage.

How to Use Your Survey Results

The survey is the perfect planning tool. If you’re planning to only use the information that comes back from the survey, you know exactly what you’ll be working with. You can create your page layouts, send out a photographer to a few key games, and wait to do the rest of the work until the survey is returned. In fact, that approach works even when you’re taking a more in-depth approach to the pages. The only thing that changes is assigning someone to cover the team for additional interviews and writing narrative copy. (By the way: You should definitely compile all the key dates and coverage needs into your planning timeline and assign responsibilities. If there are any gaps in coverage, you’ll be able to spot these early on, and fix them.) For those assigned to cover teams, though, the survey results are far more than just a planning tool. That person will learn a ton about the makeup of the team, the coach’s expectations for the season, and which players to keep an eye on. That’s great information. Use it when preparing for interviews.

Tracking Down the Coach

When you send out your survey, do it by email. It’s the easiest, most efficient way for someone to respond, and it lets you set yourself reminders to follow up. Also, let your coaches know why the survey is important, how you plan to use the information they provide, and how much their responding will help you give them awesome coverage in the yearbook. Some coaches will fill out your survey immediately. Most others will wait until the deadline. And a few will forget to turn it back in. So, make sure you build some extra time into those deadlines. Give all your coaches a few weeks' notice about when their responses are due, and establish a relationship early with your school’s athletic director. That’s a good person to have on your side, if the information never shows up. (It usually does, though.) When you get that filled-out survey, you’ll know you’re on your way to telling the right story for the right team. Use that information to guide your coverage, and you’ll be putting together seriously good sports pages for your yearbook.