A School Yearbook

 

*A SCHOOL YEARBOOK*

A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type book published annually to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often has an overarching theme that is present throughout the entire book.

The main purpose of a yearbook theme is to capture the uniqueness of the school year while setting the tone for the story the yearbook will tell.

Do your yearbooks have themes?

While the yearbook is a lot of fun to make, a lot of thought must go into its production. In order to make a quality book, staff members need to consider the different functions the book serves.

There are five primary reasons that schools publish yearbooks.

1.Education:

yearbook production is great preparation for careers in the fields of journalism, photography, design, and marketing.

You will learn how to write a good journalistic story, take interesting photos that convey a story, design a community members, and reporters. As a published work, the yearbook is an official record of this information.

2.Memories:

On a purely personal level, the yearbook records memories for students.
It covers the events and activities of students’ lives, both personal and school, and, if done well, the emotions, too.

Of course, not all memories are good–the yearbook covers all memories of the year, including the tough moments.

3.History:

You can also think of the yearbook like a history textbook; it records trends, community issues, and world issues in relation to students and becomes a reflection of the culture of the times.

4.Public Relations:

A good yearbook captures the personality of the school and can be a great tool to pull in new students and staff.

It shows all the different activities in which a student can participate and shows what classes are like.

When thinking about what to include on a page and how to record content, the responsible staff member will remember all functions of the yearbook must be met.

STANDARD THINGS TO INCLUDE IN A YEARBOOK...

Commonly referred to as the TITLE page, it typically lists school name/address/phone, photo of school or something related to your theme

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
Include a photo and title; often times administrators will also write a message to students

SPECIAL AWARDS
Acknowledgement of any special awards to school, teachers, staff or students

FACULTY AND STAFF PORTRAITS
Include all school personnel, including teachers, assistants/aides, office staff, cafeteria, custodians and bus drivers

STUDENT PORTRAITS
Be sure to include students who are not on the photographer CD.

SPECIAL CLASSES
Photos of classes such as music, art, PE, technology/media, etc.

OFFICIAL SCHOOL EVENTS
Photos of all official school events, such as Book Fair, Field Day, Fall Festival, Spirit Day, Grandparents Day, Father-Daughter Dance, Mother-Son Night Out, 100th Day of School, Spelling Bee, author visits, music programs, school plays, special grade level field trips, etc.

OFFICIAL STUDENT GROUPS/CLUBS/TEAMS
Group photos and candid photos of official students groups/clubs/teams recognized by the school, such as Drama Club, Safety Patrol, Book Club, Odyssey of the Mind, Service Club, Robotics Club, Recycle Club, Mathpalooz, basketball team, etc.

GRADUATING CLASS
Special coverage of the graduating class (e.g., 5th graders moving on to middle school), such as large photo of everyone in the grade, favorite memories, class trip, etc.

OPTIONAL ITEMS TO INCLUDE IN THE YEARBOOK..

• Table of contents listing on page 1 helps readers find topics easily
• Class group photos
• After-school activities
• School volunteers
• Parent ads (purchased by parents recognizing their student; often for graduating class only)
• Business ads (purchased by businesses)
• Quotes from students and faculty/staff
• Fill in the blank features, such as “My favorite memory,” “The best part about school is…”
• Autograph page(s) (left mostly blank so students can sign yearbooks)
• Index (list all student names and any page number they are pictured on)