What seemed like bad timing led Jonathan Dixon to a career he loves as a teacher and yearbook adviser at Corsicana High School in Corsicana, Texas. The start was rocky – he came in halfway through the year to find mostly blank pages. But since then he’s built up their program, especially their photography, and now leads an award-winning staff. …
There are times when things happen you could never plan for – this is one of those times. Are you struggling to fill pages reserved for events, sports or academic classes that were delayed or cancelled due to COVID-19 preventative measures? The job of the yearbook is to record the story of the year, and the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak drastically …
It’s the time of year when many yearbook staffs are finishing their books. The only problem? There are still months left in the school year! If you’re looking for a journalism skill-building activity for your yearbook staff, Mike Taylor, CJE, has an option for you: podcasts! The possibilities of scholastic journalism keep expanding, and many schools are turning to podcasts …
Before your 2018 yearbook is delivered, distributed and the final bell rings, let’s get everyone on the same page about this yearbook theme thing. Let’s get them all thinking in a direction that the staff can work toward. The 2019 yearbook staff needs a theme for their yearbook. Gather the returning staff, sans graduating seniors, and the new staff, sit …
Brian Wilson, yearbook adviser at Palo Alto High School (known locally as “Paly”) in Palo Alto, California, is a 21st century pioneer. After 18 years as an award-winning publications adviser and English teacher in Michigan, Brian, concerned about the state of education in his home state, left his comfortable teaching position and, with his wife, Leigh, and their two kids, …
Below is list of common excuses you might hear from yearbook reporters, after they’ve had a bad interview and they return with bad information. Fortunately, good interviewing skills can be taught to help counter each of these excuses and help every student on yearbook staff – even the shy, quiet ones – become more confident interviewers.
The holidays and winter break are likely a time for most yearbook staffs to pause, regroup and get ready for the second semester. A week or two off to recharge is great for all involved, but it’s also good to keep in mind that this time of year is also filled with story possibilities. In our latest Coverage Spotlight, we’re …
Two seconds is how long the average reader will look at a spread before turning the page. So it’s the designer’s job to try to capture those wandering eyes by using attractive yet planned design. Filling the page with more pictures will not help a reader stay on the spread. What will help is the use of several interesting entry …
You can inspire your yearbook staff to write and come up with stories using these ideas for November. The type of writing might be a little different than yearbook writing, but it may get your writers to thinking about different angles to annual topics.
For Family Stories Month, have your staff write short feature articles on interesting aspects of their family, like an etiquette-breaking tradition of throwing the foil from baked potatoes into the trash can from the dinner table to see who makes it. It may generate story ideas. Consider doing this project on Nov. 15, which is I Love to Write Day.
List of stock questions for writers after
they have presented their first draft