Let’s face it. Yearbook is tough, and it’s not always fun and games. The important thing is to take even the toughest and most frustrating moments and learn from them. Sometimes, you can even turn them into something fun.
The Warrior yearbook staff at the Christian Academy of Knoxville, Knoxville, Tenn., recently earned second place in a regional yearbook evaluation conducted by the Association of Christian Schools International.
1. Bring birthday donuts once a month.
2. Send birthday postcards from the adviser.
If your motto in the yearbook classroom sounds like this, it is time to tickle that funny bone and rekindle the staff’s love for each other and the work required to put together a great yearbook.
Advisers Use Obstacle Course to have Fun and Foster Staff Unit
Yearbook advisers Victor Cheng, Bartlett High School, Bartlett, Ill. and Jessica Battle, Wheaton Warrenville South High School, Wheaton, Ill., found a way for their staffs to let off some steam and learn a lesson or two in communicating and working together.
It was 8 p.m. Friday night.
The weather was unusually warm for the second week in February, and all other teachers and students scurried away from the building as soon as the 2:40 p.m. bell rang.
New yearbook advisers routinely face obstacles, but when the little pink phone message sheet appeared in my mail tray in mid-November, it aroused no suspicion. The message seemed harmless: “Call the yearbook plant.” Yet, the news I learned when I made that call was straight out of the yearbook X-files.
As yearbook adviser, you are the captain of a ship setting out for a one-year voyage with an inexperienced crew. If you have been on this trip before, you know about the rough waters ahead. It is likely you have already begun to prepare. However, if this is your maiden voyage, you probably are not sure what to expect.
Putting together a yearbook is no easy task, especially in high school. Staffers have to plan the entire book, coming up with a theme and making overall coverage decisions. Then there are the school events – lots of them – each requiring coverage by a writer and photographer. Once the events are covered, the editing-rewriting-editing process begins. Cutlines, headlines, tool lines follow, along with the spread design. All of this, in addition to homework, sports and everything else high school brings.
During my first few years as yearbook adviser, I wanted to have control over everything. I did not want the students to have too much responsibility for fear of mistakes and errors in the yearbook. As a result, the yearbook process became cumbersome and overwhelming. It took up a large part of each school day and, frankly, the better part of my life.