Train Your Yearbook Staff with Nationally Recognized Designs

Get ready to train your staff with the third installment of our 2024 President’s Collection Series! This exclusive video series continues to showcase national award-winning yearbooks created by outstanding programs that partner with Walsworth Yearbooks. Each video takes you behind the scenes of these exceptional yearbooks, highlighting the design choices and storytelling strategies that earned them national recognition. Plus, with each video, you’ll get access to a Google Form assessment and a zip file of key spreads featured, making it easy to bring these lessons into your classroom. Watch with your staff and discover what sets these yearbooks apart!

Let’s begin with the next five books in the series:

Eyry, Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte, North Carolina

The Charlotte Latin yearbook demonstrates strong design and storytelling. The cover’s typography, with tilted serif letters and a consistent color palette, sets the tone for the rest of the book. Theme spreads highlight each grade level, using active verbs and student quotes to reflect the experiences of the pre-K through 12th grade community. Subtle graphic elements, like angled bars, help create a cohesive layout. From the structured table of contents to the personalized senior pages, the staff’s attention to detail reflects their commitment to journalistic storytelling. These design and coverage choices have earned Charlotte Latin national recognition.

Raider, Gulliver Preparatory Middle School, Coral Gables, FL

The Gulliver Prep Middle School yearbook delivers a well-executed design and engaging content. The bold “LOUD and CLEAR” theme stands out on the cover and is consistently carried throughout the book. Elements like tilted typography and a unified color palette help tie the design together. The yearbook team’s strong photography skills are evident in the dynamic volleyball spreads and detailed student profiles highlighting the school’s diverse interests. Layout choices, such as text interacting with photos, create a modern and visually engaging experience. Through its thoughtful approach to theme, design, and storytelling, the yearbook captures the school’s spirit.

Genesis, Rock Ridge High School, Ashburn, Virginia

The Rock Ridge High School yearbook delivers a strong blend of design and storytelling. The cover’s “sticker” look, with alternating colors and typefaces, sets the tone for the book’s bold visuals. The theme is seamlessly integrated, with section titles like “Spirited, Like Nowhere Else” reinforcing the school’s identity. Design elements such as angled text boxes and well-placed white space create a balanced, engaging layout. Showstopper pages featuring students in traditional cultural attire highlight the diversity of the school community. From cover to closing, the Rock Ridge yearbook reflects a commitment to capturing the essence of the school through thoughtful design and storytelling.

Heritage, Shawnee Mission South High School, Overland Park, Kansas

The Shawnee Mission South yearbook delivers a well-executed theme with thoughtful design choices. The team used a two-part theme phrase, “maybe the little things are the big things,” to shape both storytelling and visuals. They played with scale by placing small images on the front cover and a large image on the back, reinforcing the concept. Angled layouts and a font family with varying weights further emphasized the theme’s contrast. The dual table of contents, offering both chronological and topical navigation, reflected the staff’s focus on reader experience. From first-person narratives to the closing spread that revisits the theme statement, this yearbook demonstrates a strong commitment to storytelling and design.

The Prospector, Apache Junction High School, Arizona

The Apache Junction High School yearbook grabs attention with its bold color palette and striking typography. Dynamic theme spreads with oversized, interactive text highlight the staff’s creativity, while student-created Procreate artwork adds a personal touch. The book also explores diverse topics, from AI to biracial identity, demonstrating a commitment to in-depth coverage. These thoughtful choices have earned the Apache Junction yearbook recognition as an NSPA Pacemaker Finalist.

Tune in next week to read out about the next group of schools to be featured, and be sure to follow along with the videos in our President’s Collection and watch with your staff.