January 21, 2025
3 questions about school anniversary yearbooks
How to capture a milestone year in your campus’ history frequently pops up in adviser chats. Yearbook Hero Beth Stacy said her team “linked the past to the present” with their 75th anniversary yearbook. That’s the goal.
1. What’s the Best Way to Show School History in an Anniversary Book?
Anniversary books don’t have to deviate from your normal yearbooking protocol. It can be minimal, such as in a 40th anniversary book, asking students where they want to be in the next 40 years. Or devoting a spread to a list of 100 things to love about your school in its 100th year (remember to include alumni). Or even showing photos of teachers on the staff page from the year the school was founded.
The ideas below take up a spread or two, so your focus can be the history currently written in the year at hand.
School Timeline
Schools commonly create a timeline outlining specific milestones and achievements. For Rock Academy in CA’s 15th anniversary, yearbook creators featured two pages of school history with old photos of current students.
The timeline included when faculty members joined, the expansion of course offerings, and photos of the first-ever graduate. Old photos had the year on the bottom right corner to denote the past from the present. They continued this trend on divider pages.
Cover the Years
When Wayne High School in OH published its 75th yearbook, the editorial team created two spreads showing the school's history through their yearbook covers. The team at Wayne worked with the alumni association, the local historical society, and the school archives to find most of the yearbooks.
Then and Now
(Side note: this would make a great anniversary yearbook theme.)
The team at H.O.P.E. in TX also took a trip to the yearbook archives. They scanned old photos from previous books to do side-by-sides with their present counterparts. They also researched the cost of goods from 30 years ago to show life off campus.
Adviser Rita Johson's team also interviewed alumni from the first graduating class and pictured previous advisers in the colophon. She said this was the first year they created a style guide; the yearbook design process evolved from more of a scrapbook to using mods. The team enjoyed exploring the school archives and found 19 yearbooks for the school's 30 years.
Pro tip: Save yourself the scanning. If you’ve been with Treering for multiple years, your yearbook covers and photos are in your yearbook account.
2. What’s a “Good” Theme?
Well-executed themes cover the school year both verbally and visually. It shows and tells. In a milestone year, like your school’s 50th anniversary, it may be tempting to try and carry this concept through the entire book. Full stop. Unless the winning point guard from the 6th grade basketball team is currently coaching his great-grandson, resist the urge to make your anniversary the yearbook theme. This year (the buyers!) will always be the primary focus.
Verbal Theme Ideas
Because yearbook creators love the look, we’re starting with the “sound” of the theme. Headlines, theme copy, and spin-offs should reflect your yearbook’s theme.
Evergreen Anniversary Theme Ideas
- Construction-focused: “Built to Last” or “Foundation for Tomorrow”
- Timeline focused: “Our Journey Here,” “Milestones Marked,” and “Then and Now”
- Younger school: “The Wonder Years”
- Older school: “Timeless”
Year-Specific Theme Ideas
- 10-20-30, etc.: “Decades of Excellence”
- 15: “Time to Shine”
- 50: “Golden Moments”
- 100: “A Century Strong”
Visual Theme Considerations
Align your theme’s aesthetic with the verbal tone. Taking a page from my junior year, the theme “Reflections” should have some mirroring in the graphics, if not some shine on the cover.
Traditional anniversary gifts—a list that dates back to the 19th century—prescribe the following:
- 10th anniversary - tin or aluminum
- 15th anniversary - crystal
- 25th anniversary - silver
- 50th anniversary - gold
You can easily add such elements to your cover finish. Bringing your “golden anniversary” to life can be as simple as adding gold foil. Treering also offers silver foil and clear UV embossing.
Inside your yearbook, you could (choose one!)
- Denote old photos by making them black and white or using a Polaroid-style frame (like HOPE did)
- Hide 20 pictures of your mascot (if it’s your 20th)
- Use blueprints or construction photos for a significant building project
3. When Should I Do an Anniversary Yearbook?
We see anniversary books for 10-100 years, and everything in between. The caveat here is that if your school is doing nothing, why would the yearbook? Align with your school community to get the final answer on this one.
Getting Personal: Treering’s 15th Anniversary Book
As Treering’s 15th year closes, we created our first-ever anniversary yearbook. Our staff took yearbook photos on the conventional blue background. As a cross-functional team, yearbook creators interviewed staff members and collected photos of people in the home office as well as remote teammates’ home offices.
Unlike a school where students promote and graduate, many staff members are in their second decade with the company, and two of the founders are involved in the day-to-day. The history section features photos of the early offices and staff, the original 44 schools, and a history of Treering-produced theme art. It is heavy on nostalgia.
We look forward to celebrating many more milestones with you.
