Ask Mike: Why Do You Love Yearbook?

This is the time of year when the Walsworth Yearbooks Podcast Network celebrates love in all its forms – especially the love of yearbook! In the latest WYPN episode of Ask Mike, host Mike Taylor, CJE, interviewed four yearbook staffs about why they love yearbook. He spoke to the staffs of Braden River High School in Bradenton, Florida; Liberty North High School in Liberty, Missouri; Kearney High School in Kearney, Missouri; and Lee’s Summit High School in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

After you’re done listening (or even during), we encourage you to share your reasons for loving yearbook! Post them on social media using #AskMike and #WhyILoveYearbook. Happy yearbooking!

Braden River High School, Bradenton, Florida

Adviser Jessica Reid gushed about her yearbook staff at Braden River High.

“What made me love yearbook was, my first year getting thrown into it and having 40 kids on the staff – only two of them had taken any kind of yearbook class ever. It was insanity and tears, with deadlines coming at us every which way and we had no idea. But then stuff would just sort of come together. The kids would stay after school or the staff would come in on the weekends,” she said.

She said seeing her students work hard for that final product is what makes her stay. She keeps faith that the book will get done, no matter how worried they are about deadlines.

Liberty North High School, Liberty, Missouri

Liberty North editor-in-chief Delaney loves designing yearbook.

“Design is the reason I fell in love with it. I just love the process of taking quotes from our students and stories that are written, and putting them on the page in a way that makes the reader want to look at it,” she said.

Adviser Ronna Sparks-Woodward has been the yearbook adviser at Liberty North for 10 years.

“I just love everything about it,” she said. “I love the fact that my kids can put in nine months of work, then there’s an actual credit. And it’s their work and everyone else can see it.”

She added that, personally, she loves working with incredible students – and she’s had a great bunch over the last ten years.

Kearney High School, Kearney, Missouri

Adviser Karen loves that teaching journalism creates a different kind of classroom atmosphere and she gets to know her staff well.

“I get to see more of their personalities. We have a lot of inside jokes, we have a lot of fun things that we do, mixed in with a lot of hard work that they put in,” she said. “That’s what I love about them, is they do put in a ton of work and we still have fun in the process.”

Lee’s Summit High School, Lee’s Summit, Missouri

Adviser Jessica Cordonier loves working with her yearbook staff.

“I think the thing that I love the most about them is that they are brave,” she said. “They push themselves and each other to come up with things they have not done before. They’re not afraid to try and learn new skills. And I just think that they’re really brave designers and writers and leaders.”

Listen for more

You can soak up even more yearbook love by listening to the “Why Do You Love Yearbook?” episode of Ask Mike, available at walsworthyearbooks.com/podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.