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The yearbook is finished-what now (part i–projects).

1. GRAPHICS NOTEBOOK

Students should look through magazines and collect a variety of graphic ideas. Give students a list of items (with a specific number of required examples) to find such as headline treatments, folios, secondary story packages, drop or raised caps, wrapped text, pulled-quote or have them just find items they like and organize them in a way that is pleasing and makes sense to the reader. They should keep the notebooks for ideas for next year’s book. This project can be an on-going assignment throughout the year with additional requirements added at different points. Consider adding typography treatments, photography elements, page layouts, color design, etc.

2. DESIGN A PERSONAL YEARBOOK

This final project should include a cover, endsheet, title page, opening, division page and one spread from each section of the book. It can be an autobiographical yearbook with personal photos, essays, poems, activities, interests, etc. built around a personal theme determine by the individual (a favorite song, a movie title, etc.) or by a general theme topic assigned to all that each person will develop in his/her own way. Or, this can be a starting-off point for next year’s book. Students can work individually or in groups to produce a mini-yearbook that could potentially be expanded into next year’s book.

3. STAFF NOTEBOOK

Each staff member creates a notebook to pass on to a new staffer for next year. Notebooks should include a month-by-month calendar of duties and deadlines, a section outlining the position’s tasks and tips on how to complete assignments, with specific instructions on copy writing, cropping, photography, organization, etc. required by the position. Then, have each staff member write a personal letter to the person who will be taking the position next year to include in the front of the notebook. These can be digital or actual hard-copy notebooks in binders or folders. Content is more important than form for this project.

4.CREATIVITY

Design an all-staff design contest for next year’s staff letterhead, business cards, staff t-shirts, etc. Each student submits his/her designs via formal presentation to the entire staff with explanation of their creations. After all presentations are made, secret ballot decides the winning designs.

5. EARN MONEY

Produce the graduation program, prom program, spring concert or play program, tickets, forms etc. as a fund-raiser for yearbook. Design resumes for students seeking summer jobs.

What end-of-the-school-year project do you do? We’d love to hear about it!

Next up:  Planning Ahead –6 things to do now that will make a big difference next year.

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16 Ideas for an Easier, Stress-Free, and Student-Led Yearbook-Making Process

Veteran yearbook leaders share their best advice.

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Are you in charge of yearbook this year? Congratulations! Yearbooks are such a cherished, important part of capturing school memories. Below, veteran yearbook leaders share their best advice for managing the yearbook process.

1. Let the students lead.

I think it is absolutely critical for any yearbook group to be student-led with staff support, not the other way around. As an adult, it’s easy to pick up the slack, but that takes the process out of kids’ hands where it belongs. A stunningly beautiful yearbook is, of course, our goal, but a meaningful and fun process will be far more memorable in the end. –Sarah Keezing Gay

2. Take the time to prep properly.

Students will want to jump right in, but take some time to do team-building, teaching about mission statements, and understanding the overall vision. More direction and cohesion before you get into the content will really help the process overall. –Jess Atkinson

3. Try an icebreaker to kick off the process.

When I was yearbook advisor, I always began the school year by having the kids start taking candid pictures right away. I would give students about 15 minutes, and they would enthusiastically roam the hallways snapping away. Then, as we viewed the photos, we’d all discuss the pictures and talk about possible captions. This was a great way to start building a bond with the students. –Jan Hudson

4. Make it an extracurricular students want to be a part of.

If you want to get students involved but don’t have a designated class, organize it as an extracurricular group. I run a yearbook group that meets weekly, and students can sign up to work on the areas or sections they choose. Then, at the beginning of the year, we’ll hold training sessions for students so they can come in and learn the tools they need. –Sarah Keezing Gay

5. Study other yearbooks before you dive in.

This is such an important process. Take time to look through old yearbooks, and ask questions. What types of layouts do you want to do? How do you want to organize overage? What kind of new content do you want to share? Ask students these questions, and encourage them to think about the entire process. –Jess Atkinson

6. Don’t be afraid to use (or nag) the resources you have.

Use your yearbook company to help and ask questions. They should be one of your biggest supporters—that’s what they’re there for. –Katie Brown

7. Recruit student photographers.

Just because a student isn’t interested in yearbook doesn’t mean they can’t help in some way. Recruit students who are interested in photography even if they’re not interested in joining yearbook. They might just like taking photos or posting on Instagram a lot. I promise you will always need more photos! –Jess Atkinson

8. Set up a creative space.

I made the yearbook room a fun place to be with bright and colorful posters and funky décor. We always had music playing, which made for a relaxed work environment.  –Jan Hudson

9. Tell stories.

Photos are great, but don’t forget to use them as tools to tell the stories of your school. Have students talk to or interview staff or students. Having authentic and real stories to go along with the photos will really make it a better product. –Jess Atkinson

10. Target parent groups for their help.

Ask parent booster organizations for their support in creating photos, write-ups, or information for their section. For instance, if you have parent groups that support sports teams or drama clubs, ask for their photos. These groups will often have their own websites or group pages. This will also help bring a wider range of voices to the yearbook and save on work. –Sarah Keezing Gay

11. Always stay two steps ahead.

The hardest part is keeping up with enough work for kids to do on their own. Remember that students can spend a good amount of time on writing up names of team pictures, making sure all the names are spelled correctly and that everyone is listed. Just have the work prepped and ready to make the best use of time. –Annie Brtitschge

12. Bring in a guest speaker.

Ask the local newspaper editor, photographer, or a staff member if they would consider a couple of mentor sessions. They can talk to the kids about photos and what makes a picture usable. –Kelly Brown

13. Get the entire school involved by offering rewards.

Our teachers get their classrooms involved by inviting students to help with tasks and challenges we give. And for this, competition works really well! We offer rewards for the best cover, opening message, best page to capture a classroom project, and more. We don’t ask the teacher to give up instructional time. Rather, we give basic activities like writing challenges that they can incorporate into their curriculum. –Sarah Keezing Gay

14. Do not…absolutely do not…leave proofreading to the end.

It’s easy to put this off until the very end when the book is about to go to the printer, but you can have more mistakes this way. Try to put a process in place so that you have multiple people proofreading along the way. If you can streamline and focus your process, you’ll have more time to do it thoroughly. –Jess Atkinson

15. Leave the tracking up to your students.

It’s important to make sure all groups and students are represented as best as possible. Ask your students to track patterns, identify their peers who are over- or underrepresented, and guide you towards sources of images for students who don’t show up in as many event or group photos. –Sarah Keezing Gay

16. Take it one day at a time.

If it’s your first time doing yearbook, focus on getting through the first year, and don’t be too hard on yourself the first time around. I recommend following basic layouts similar to previous years while you get to know the process. There’s a big learning curve when you’re just getting started, so don’t overdo it. –Katie Brown

Remember Me offers an impressive set of tools to make your yearbook process seamless. Browse their themes  and find out how they can help you.

Also, download the free “making memories” poster from Remember Me. Hang it in your classroom to encourage making memories. Learn more here.

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Yearbook Writing Assignments for Students

A major part to the body of the class yearbook is writing stories. These stories are important as they first-handily talk about experiences and memories that occurred during the class’s graduation year.

Remember When… This is a great gateway to get a memorable story from students. Maybe, ask them to discuss where they were and whom they were with during a holiday break or how they reacted when they received their first college acceptance letter. These are great stories that the entire class would love to read, both today and for years to come.

Which Faculty Member Inspired You Most During Your Time In School and Why? Choosing a name will be easy for a student to provide. The reason why they chose that individual will be unique though. Maybe this teacher or faculty member assisted them on passing a certain class or went the extra level for them outside the classroom.

Which current event during your graduation year did you enjoy most? This is another open-ended question that will get a slew of different responses. Maybe it was something school related such as winning the state championship in basketball or being a lead character in the class play. Maybe though, it was a family member coming back from a tour of active duty to spend the holidays with you and the rest of the family.

Yearbook writing assignments shouldn’t make students feel like they are taking an exam. They should be fun and give students the true ability to express themselves. This in-turn will provide the best yearbook content that everyone can enjoy for generations!

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Yearbook Job Descriptions

A common mistake is to hand out titles. (Think of that Oprah meme, “You are a yearbook editor, you are a yearbook editor…”) Before you go crazy with inventing a structure, create job descriptions for each position. The benefit: staff members can focus on their designated areas of expertise, resulting in a more organized and high-quality yearbook production. Emphasis on the organized. We created these yearbook job descriptions to help prevent misunderstandings, reduce conflicts , and enhance communication within the yearbook team.

What Jobs Exist on a Yearbook Staff?

From editors to photographers and every copy-editing, photo-tagging contributor in between, yearbook staffs can be specialized or comprised of generalists. The most important things are to

• Recruit a team reflective of the community you cover
• Communicate the roles and responsibilities early and often

Editor in Chief

As captain of the proverbial ship, the editor in chief (EIC) oversees the entire yearbook production process. (This is not to be confused with the yearbook adviser; more on that below.) The EIC manages the team and ensures the yearbook meets quality standards. 

Daily duties include checking in with the editorial board (large staff) or coordinating with staff members to communicate yearbook progress and assigning tasks such as mini deadlines or photo assignments. 

A successful EIC demonstrates leadership and talent. 

Yearbook Editorial Board Job Descriptions

Your editor in chief will oversee the team that shapes the theme and coverage of the yearbook and helps train new students. This editorial board can be as large or small as your staff necessitates, and may vary from year to year. 

Beyond the big picture design and team harmony goals, the day-to-day duties of editorial board members consist of:

Copy Editor

Accuracy in grammar, spelling, and facts are the hallmarks of a successful copy editor. While the entire project does not rest on this one person’s shoulders, all section editors should do their due diligence to ensure their teams’ submissions are beyond the first draft phase prior to submitting.

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Photo Editor

Ensuring that the images meet quality standards and deadlines are met, the photo editor organizes uploaded images, ensures they are tagged accurately, and schedules photographers. 

Section Editors

Section Editors oversee specific sections of the yearbook, such as sports, academics, clubs, or student life. They coordinate with photographers and writers to ensure comprehensive coverage and consistency within their assigned sections. While the tasks of section editors may vary depending on the size of the yearbook team and the specific guidelines set by the yearbook advisor or school, below are some examples of team members and their section-specific duties.

Sports Editor

• Obtain rosters and schedules for each team
• Coordinate team photos with the coaching staff
• Schedule photographers for practices, tournaments, and games
• Work with Booster organizations or parents to crowdsource photos

Reference/People Editor

• Coordinate with the photo editor to ensure all photos are tagged
• Run index and/or flow portraits
• Create opportunities for storytelling throughout the reference or people section

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Student Life Editor

• Coordinate with reporters and designers to ensure the events in the yearbook showcase both depth and breadth
• Work with photo and reference editors to identify students who are both in and not in the yearbook three times
• Establish a crowdsourcing plan with the social media team

Editorial Board Duties

Content planning.

Section editors need to plan the content for their assigned sections. This involves brainstorming ideas, scheduling events or activities to cover, and extending the yearbook theme through sidebars, body copy, and headlines.

Communication

Editors must ensure each team member knows their responsibilities and deadlines for the week. Some staffs find a weekly staff meeting where the editors detail the week’s events and assignments plus overall book progress keeps things moving.

Reviewing and Editing Content

It’s important to match seasoned staffers with new ones to provide useful feedback and coaching through regular checks for accuracy, clarity, and adherence to the yearbook’s style and guidelines.

Meeting Deadlines

The editorial board must monitor the progress of their team members and ensure that all content and materials for their section are completed on time. They also review the overall progress of the section and address any potential delays or issues that may arise.

Business Manager

Working with the adviser to coordinate sales, track orders, manage budgets, and organize advertising and fundraising initiatives, the business manager helps to ensure the yearbook’s financial success. (This sounds scarier than it is.)

Social Media Manager

Yearbook teams use a social media manager to handle the yearbook’s online presence and engagement. Daily tasks include:

• Managing social media accounts
• Posting updates
• Sharing previews of the yearbook
• Interacting with the school community

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Job Descriptions for Yearbook Staff Members

The majority of your students will fall into this category. These are the frontliners who cover events, write headlines, interview students, submit stories, re-write those stories, and make your team’s vision come to life. They collaborate with the editorial board to develop story ideas, learn to tell stories through photos, and fit layout schemes and page designs to content. Students will get experience with varied responsibilities. For example, having a basic understanding of photography can enhance the team’s capabilities and contribute to equitable yearbook coverage.

Large staffs have the luxury of further specializing their teams further.

Arranging photos, text, and graphics to create appealing and organized page spreads that use theme elements is their specialty. They are flexible and see how the part (a photo) contributes to the whole (your school’s story).

Photographers

Photographers capture high-quality images of various events, activities, and individuals throughout the school year. They aim for story-telling photographs, zoom with their feet, and show up. Oh yeah, and they tag their pics.

Students, teachers, and staff members share their stories with your reporters who then create engaging narratives. They pre-plan open-ended interview questions, listen, and dive deep.

By establishing roles and responsibilities, your yearbook staff will work in roles suitable to their experience and interests, giving them an opportunity to experience personal growth and develop a skillset that interests them. 

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