VOLUME 16 | ISSUE 3
YEARBOOK
TALENT TWO-FOLD ADVISER OF THE YEAR / RISING STAR COVERAGE ESSENTIALS FOR 2013 & MORE
YERD ALERT! GRAHAM AND IAN The same, but different. Their looks are similar, but they are definitely different. Graham Beck might be the more creative and more outgoing twin. His brother Ian is the more organized, more punctual and more logical. And they had always gone to school together. Until this year. As college freshmen, Graham is at Boston College vacillating between a degree in communication (he loves photography) and one in science that just might lead to med school, and Ian is more than 2,500 miles south and west at the University of Southern California, where he’s considering a history major. In 2011, the duo graduated from Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose, CA, where Graham co-edited the Carillon after four years on staff and Ian served as Photo Editor senior year. It was yet another case were their actions followed a similar, but different, path. As a freshman, Graham — the elder by 15 minutes — was intrigued by the opportunity immediately. “It was literally the first day of school,” he remembers. “I was sitting at the Mass of the Holy Spirit and I saw the photographers shooting all kinds of images. It was clear they had full access and they were serious about capturing the action and emotions of the day. I sat right there thinking I wanted to try that.” Before he knew it, Graham was on board. He remembers his first-ever assignment well: he shot a frosh/soph water polo scrimmage. Before the game, he’d done lots of research on both water polo and photography and it showed in the images he turned in afterwards. The photo editors recognized his interest, his talent and his desire to improve. By sophomore year, Graham had won photo of the week and had moved on to some non-sports assignments. And he’d convinced Ian that he needed to be on staff as well. They valued their time on staff for different reasons. Ian appreciates the historical aspects of the project, while Graham, as a co-EIC and three-time Yerd in Portland, New York and Anaheim, saw the bigger picture. While Graham has continued with photography (he’s currently Assistant Photo Editor for the campus newspaper at BC); Ian has joined the USC marching band, playing the alto sax. Despite their different roles, their personal interests and the natural inclinations that distinguish the pair, they agree that being on yearbook was an amazing experience.
My high school experience was so much more intense — and personal and varied — because of yearbook. I now have this amazing perspective of the year because we were intentional in our curation of its history.”
It’s not unusual for adviser Dmitri Conom to have brothers who serve on the Carillon staff together, but Ian and Graham were his first set of twins. “It was great to have them working on the book together. Their personalities are completely complementary, so they contributed to the process in very different ways — and the book was better because of that.”
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kimberly D. Hanzo
LAYOUT EDITORS
Matt Leighton, Aaron Klopp
COPY EDITOR
Ann Akers
DESIGNERS
Nikki Mango and Evan Modesto
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kim Green, yearbook adviser Columbus (IN) North HS Kathy Habiger, yearbook adviser Mill Valley HS, Shawnee, KS Charla Harris, yearbook adviser Pleasant Grove HS, Texarkana,TX Anastasia Harrison, yearbook adviser Legacy HS, Parker, CO Sarah Verpooten, yearbook adviser Lake Central HS, St. John, IN James Yoakley, yearbook adviser Lenoir City (TN) HS
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Hannah Booth, D.J. Chitwood, Lucy Edmonds, Sarah Griffin, Ellen Hacker, Aaron Hamrick, Ryan Middledorf, Courtney Niemann, Natalie Thigpen, Pio Tsai, Alexis Vasquez
HJ LOCATIONS Charlotte, NORTH CAROLINA charlotte@herffjones.com Gettysburg, PENNSYLVANIA gettysburg@herffjones.com Kansas City, KANSAS kansascity@herffjones.com Logan, UTAH logan@herffjones.com Montgomery, ALABAMA montgomery@herffjones.com Winnipeg, CANADA winnipeg@herffjones.com Herff Jones Yearbook Discoveries Volume 16 Issue 3 was produced electronically using Adobe® InDesign CS5.5, Adobe Illustrator® CS5.5 and Adobe Photoshop® CS5.5. This magazine was created on a Mac Pro, 2.66 GHz with 6 GB of RAM and printed by Herff Jones, Inc., at its Charlotte, NC printing facility. The cover was printed on White Vibracolor Endsheet stock using four-color process. The magazine pages were printed on 100# Premier stock using four-color process inks. The fonts used in Yearbook Discoveries Volume 16 Issue 3 were AHJ New Gothic and AHJ University Oldstyle. Herff Jones and the Herff Jones logo are registered trademarks of Herff Jones, Inc. Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Adobe and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc.
YEARBOOK
02
WHAT’S INSIDE
ADVISER RECOGNITION
Kim Green reacts to HL Hall’s poem during the “faculty meeting,” where she was named JEA’s Yearbook Adviser of the year.
04 STUDENT LIFE No matter how the book is organized, coverage of the myriad
10 SPORTS Even the most adventurous books tend to be more traditional
06 ORGANIZATIONS It’s true in most schools. Some organizations are merely
12 PEOPLE True, the portraits section is the chance for everyone to be in
08 ACADEMICS While the curricular offerings ARE the reason the school exists,
14 INDEX Especially since more staffs are experimenting with varied
events, topics and trends that set the year apart is a key component. Some aspects, like fashion and technology, will appear (and be preserved) in everyday photos, but others will fade quickly if they are not specifically recorded by the staff.
memberships that come with minimal obligations and sporadic opportunities for participation and others are really “lifestyles.” If you believe every official school group deserves the same treatment, it might be a challenge to justify coverage.
a predictable section with one department per spread is, perhaps, the reason so many believe the academics section will automatically be boring. See what you can do to bring life into coverage of the lessons taught during regular school hours.
when it comes to coverage of sports squads. Whether the spreads are chronological, seasonal or in other sections, there should be a team shot and complete scoreboard for each team in addition to the candids and reactions from players/coaches.
the yearbook. Some staffs have removed additional content from these pages in order to create a section that is purely reference, but others break the panels of portraits with profiles, quizzes and features that anchor the book in time.
coverage strategies and an array of book formats, a complete and accurate index is crucial. If your readers cannot find the content they are looking for, they are less likely to see your work as a success. Easy-to-follow tips make an amazing index easy!
16 YEARBOOK ETC. Beyond the design rules and interviewing skills, each yearbook
DISCOVER MORE
staff retains a year full of memories collected while they were recording the story of the year for their school. Many times, it’s the laughter and tears, the traditions and fun that they’ll remember most.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE MOBILE APP FOR YOUR SMARTPHONE AND ENJOY EXTRA CONTENT WHEREVER YOU SEE THIS TAG! >> GO TO HTTP://GETTAG.MOBI
It’s great to see advisers recognized for their work and dedication, but it’s even more fun when so many of those on stage are friends.
HAPPY
OH,
“Yearbook is the ultimate group project. It’s the best career preparation you can do in high school.” BRIAN WILSON, DISTINGUISHED ADVISER WATERFORD (MI) KETTERING HS
AT THE HERFF JONES-SPONSORED SATURDAY ADVISER LUNCHEON IN SEATTLE, KIM GREEN WAS HONORED AS JEA’S NATIONAL YEARBOOK ADVISER OF THE YEAR AND THREE OTHER HERFF JONES ADVISERS WERE RECOGNIZED IN THAT COMPETITION. IN ADDITION, THREE OTHER HJ ADVISERS RECEIVED JEA’S RISING STAR AWARD.
“Every time I get ready to go to a yearbook event, I know I am going to see my tribe. Personally and professionally, that makes me proud to be involved.”
PHOTO BY SARAH GRIFFIN PHOTO BY AARON HAMRICK
MIKE SIMONS, SPECIAL RECOGNITION ADVISER CORNING PAINTED POST (NY) WEST HS
“I love just watching them on deadline. It just comes together. It’s so cool to set them on a course, make sure they are prepared and then let them go.”
PHOTO BY LUCY EDMONDS
ERIC THOMAS, SPECIAL RECOGNITION ADVISER ST. TERESA’S ACADEMY, KANSAS CITY, MO
“It’s different every day — and I feel so lucky to develop real relationships with my students. We have a lot of fun.” STEPHANIE KEAGLE, RISING STAR AUBURN (WA) MOUNTAINVIEW HS
PHOTO BY ALEXIS VAZQUEZ
“We really are building a legacy. What the staff does each year affects the next book. It’s so much fun to watch them raise the bar year after year.” HEATHER HANKS, RISING STAR BLOOMINGDALE HS, VALRICO, FL
“Telling the stories and finding new ways to make coverage fresh are important, but when staffers find their voice and their place on the team, that’s the best.” TIMOTHY YORKE, RISING STAR HERITAGE HS, LEESBURG, VA
PHOTO BY RYAN MIDDLEDORF
PHOTO BY D.J. CHITWOOD
Most importantly, I want [my students] to be good people and that means they have to understand WHY we do what we do.�
DAY!
- KIM GREEN
Scan this smart tag or visit http://bit.ly/oeHcHg to find profiles of all seven of these amazing/dedicated/ passionate advisers.
KIM GREEN
COLUMBUS (IN) NORTH HS 2011 YEARBOOK ADVISER OF THE YEAR
PHOTOS BY HANNAH BOOTH
PHOTO BY ELLEN HACKER
CELEBRATIONS GALORE! From hugs by her three (now four)-year-old granddaughter, Annie, and the presence of family members galore at the YAOY announcement to posing with the seniors on her yearbook staff and Herff Jones rep Cathy Wines, Kim Green is all about celebrations. Every staff birthday brings out the boa and the candle glasses and the class serenades the birthday baby yearbook staff style.
IT USED TO BE THAT ALL YEARBOOKS HAD EXACTLY THE SAME SECTIONS, BUT THAT'S NO LONGER TRUE. IF YOU CHOOSE TO COVER THE YEAR CHRONOLOGICALLY, YOU MIGHT HAVE MONTHLY DIVIDERS. YOUR THEME/CONCEPT MIGHT DICTATE A NEW SECTIONAL FORMAT. BUT NO MATTER HOW YOUR BOOK IS STRUCTURED, YOUR COVERAGE WILL FALL INTO SOME VERY FAMILIAR CATEGORIES.
El Lobo, Basic HS, Henderson, NV Fashion and trends would be documented photographically no matter what, but many staffs chose to do a spread with factfilled copy, captions and reactions to provide details. The Globe, International Polytechnic HS, Pomona, CA A great way to include lots of different kinds of people, this holidays spread covers both school and family traditions and activities. Canticle, St. Francis HS, Sacramento, CA Photos contributed by students and cluster captions mean that summer coverage truly represented the variety in students’ lives as more than 100 faces are included in the spread’s 16 photos. The Honora, Presentation HS, San Jose, CA While a Father-Daughter Dance isn’t something you'll find in every school, it earns a spread at this school, where it's a much-anticipated annual event.
Scan this smart tag or visit http://bit.ly/oeHcHg to see even more examples of coverage done right. Plus, you'll find downloadable forms that make keeping track of club activities easier.
STUDENT LIFE It’s the "fun" section, the one that’s most lively and flexible
IT’S WHAT YOU DO. BY SARAH VERPOOTEN
DYNAMIC STUDENT LIFE COVERAGE STARTS WITH AN ACTION. WHAT DID STUDENTS ACTUALLY "DO" DURING THE YEAR? ONCE YOU NARROW IN ON ACTIONS, YOU’LL GET GREATER COVERAGE THAT IS PERSONAL TO YOUR SCHOOL.
THE ACTION: HANGING OUT Your students love to hang out… and they’re not all just watching TV. Brainstorm things that your students do for fun regularly. Specific video games, snowboarding, water skiing, volunteering — we all do something with our free time.
THE ACTION: A LOCAL EVENT Don’t forget that one of your goals should be to historically reflect your year. When significant events happen at your school or in your community (like a movie being filmed in your town, a majorly destructive storm or your school being shut down for a few days), it is worth your while to show how that larger event affected your students personally; let
Quiver, Lake Central HS, Saint John, IN Dyer Skate Park is a happening place for students at Lake Central. It is usually full of kids showing off and learning some new skills. With a fun headline treatment, it was a popular spread that focused specifically on something that lots of kids did.
them tell their stories. Readers want to pull that book off the shelf 10 years from now and say, “Oh yeah, that was the year that the juniors all went camping instead of going to Homecoming.”
THE ACTION: PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT If a sophomore wins the Junior Miss competition or places nationally in a figure skating championship or even shows a prize-winning hog at the county fair, you should cover those accomplishments. Find ways to fit in fun, individual stories. In addition to coverage of calendared school events, this is the section to showcase the lives of the students outside of school.
Quiver, Lake Central HS, Saint John, IN After a blown transformer cancelled school one day and flickering lights led to two early releases, editors decided to cover the building issues that all students faced as a feature in the student life section.
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CLUBS It’s what they do (and why?)
BY ANASTASIA HARRISON
FRENCH, PING PONG, POKER, SPANISH, NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY, NEWSPAPER, HIP HOP, MU ALPHA THETA …CLUBS, CLUBS AND MORE CLUBS. HOW ON EARTH DO YOU COVER ALL THE POSSIBLE CLUBS YOUR SCHOOL OFFERS ADEQUATELY AND FAIRLY? The organizations section is different than the rest of the sections in a yearbook, because there are so many different types of groups that you have to cover. In a traditional book, sports coverage is often seasonal as athletes compete on school teams in distinct seasons. Academics can be grouped by departments, wings or learning processes, and student life is generally covered in calendar order with features sprinkled in. Of course you can always group clubs in alphabetical order or by type, but how can you make sure that the involved students really shine? Grouping clubs by function (service clubs, honoraries, performance groups) is one way to change up coverage, but the point of a yearbook is to highlight the students, so how do you do it?
One way is to have multiple opportunities to feature the students through secondary, tertiary and quaternary copy on the page. While, yes, your copy should be specific and unique to your school, your alternative coverage should be even more so, especially in the clubs section. A great way to make sure you are covering as many students as possible is to include Q&As, mini-stories and quote collections covering the events from the members’ perspectives, rather than just telling what the events were. While the events are important to remember, a memorable quote can bring them to life.
IN ORDER TO GET THOSE GREAT QUOTES, YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU COVER ALL THE EVENTS, BUT HOW? At our school, we have an electronic form where club sponsors can let us know when their meetings and events are at least a week in advance. Some sponsors know all of their meetings and events at the beginning of the year, while others go with the flow, so this works for everyone. Then the editors-in-chief create a master calendar of all club events and meetings so that we can make sure photographers and reporters are covering all of them. It isn’t just important to have a photographer there to capture the moment, it also helps to have a reporter there too, so they can get quotes from members while the memories are fresh. If you can’t get a reporter there too, make sure a reporter or two interviews the members the next day. If you wait until the week you are putting together the spread, it is probably too late. Odyssey, Chantilly (VA) HS Because they use umbrella coverage to link like unrelated topics using a single word, coverage on Math League is paired with other stories involving calculations. A different book structure of coverage strategy does not affect your need to be inclusive.
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Clubs coverage should be a top priority throughout each deadline.� The key to strong clubs coverage is being current in your coverage. Staffers can’t wait until they are working on the clubs deadline to cover clubs. That can lead to just one to two events being covered on a page. Clubs coverage should be a top priority throughout each deadline; whether that be as an extra assignment each month, each week, or every two weeks, you can decide. Figure out how often your staffers need to check in and stick to the plan. For clubs coverage that really represents the year, photos and stories need to show meetings, behind-the-scenes work and major events as they happened throughout the year.
ABOVE: Westwind, West Henderson HS, Hendersonville, NC Coverage of marching band, drum line and flag corps presents a look at all who performed together in halftimes and competition. The main story served as an overview and the secondary and tertiary layers of coverage were more personal views. RIGHT, TOP: Spark, Cupertino (CA) HS With group photos in the reference section, personal and fun sidebars add whimsy and depth to what might otherwise be the same coverage every year. Because so many student government projects are major school and social events, coverage of the group appeared in the student life section.
RIGHT, BELOW: Crag, Turner Ashby HS, Bridgewater, VA Group photos with full IDs appear on all spreads in this clubs section. To accommodate the many groups, the staff linked similar clubs together. Categories like bands, service clubs and honoraries set parameters as language clubs did here when French, Latin and Spanish clubs appear together.
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ACADEM It's the reason your school exists:
IT'S SOOOOOO BORING. DO WE HAVE TO COVER IT?
BY KIM GREEN YES. YES WE DO! AND IT CAN BE HIGH-ENERGY COVERAGE IF STAFFS APPROACH IT NON-TRADITIONALLY. ACADEMICS IS OFTEN UNDERCOVERED BECAUSE IT’S VIEWED IN THE SAME TIRED WAY YEAR AFTER YEAR. TRADITION IS NOT A BAD THING, BUT TRADITION AT ALL COSTS — GENERAL, BORING, SAME-OLD SUMMARY COVERAGE — IS A TERRIBLE REASON FOR SHORT-CHANGING ACADEMICS. And we’re not accurately telling the story of the year if we cut down on academics coverage. Consider this: the number of participants vs. the number of spreads in the book. Do the spreads in your sports section outnumber the spreads in your academics section? Why? After all, every student in your school takes classes while generally a third of your student body participates in sports. Your coverage should reflect that. Cool academics coverage requires a paradigm shift. What if the section… • covers students, not just subjects? • is approached from a human interest angle and not from a class perspective? • features a variety of aspects of school common to all classes? • pictures multiple classes on the same spread for visual variety? So, where do we start? Stop and listen to hallway chatter. Kids talk about school all the time: how tiring the state tests are, the stench of the dissecting lab in science, the kid in the previous class who leaves bizarre doodles on the desk, extra credit movies, procrastination, group projects, reading assignments, technology nightmares, difficult classes, how much the English class books weigh, study habits, the cool posters in a particular classroom, test stress, field trips, alternative schedules, kids whose parents work at school (and know everything that goes on!)…this list represents but a small part of the true story of academics at not only your school, but schools everywhere. These snippets of school talk become the great stuff of academics coverage that accurately reflects the year. Take a topic, use it as a spread theme, and find stories from various departments to layer information. Just be sure to keep track of coverage so all departments are represented. Finding all kinds of kids from all kinds of classes to tell their stories keeps the coverage fresh. Academics coverage that truly reflects the students who sit in the classrooms will take this section from woeful to WOW!
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ACADEMICS BY GRADE LEVEL Log, Columbus (IN) North HS In addition to many other kinds of academic stories, the staff created a spread presenting a cohesive look at each year of high school. From graduation requirements and college applications to special traditions, this senior coverage brings the final year to life. The senior project at North consumes the year, keeping seniors busy with proposals, research papers, job shadowing, community service, the project itself, the portfolio and the presentation. Covering these challenges from the varying points of view of those who lived them brought the year to life.
ACADEMICS BY DEPARTMENT Saga, Rowland HS, Rowland Heights, CA Departmental coverage was combined with spreads on specific classes in this thorough section. So spreads on single classes like Gourmet, Forensics, Auto Repair, Broadcasting and Child Care merged with spreads like this one on science, which showed and told the tales of an array of related courses. Secondary packages detailed personal memories like making flavored lip balm in Chemistry and doing dissections in Anatomy, while the main body copy included several students’ input on a Physics assignment that involved creating protective packaging for eggs dropped from above.
ACADEMICS BY TOPIC Paragon, Oakton HS, Vienna, VA Another section with several coverage strategies, this staff did some spreads on specific classes/ programs like drama and student media, some departmentally like art, drama and technology and others on topics that allowed them show more than kids sitting in desks (new teachers, honors,
MICS academic survival and classes that relate to real life). On this field trips spread, they included an Oceanography trip to an aquarium, trips to World Bank, Capitol Hill and the Newseum and the inspiration photo students found on their day at the zoo.
ACADEMICS COMBINED WITH CLUBS, PEOPLE Northstar, Northside HS, Roanoke, VA Acknowledging that academic departments and concerns are connected to other coverage areas, this staff linked related coverage on departmental umbrella spreads. On this Languages spread, coverage of why different people take foreign language classes, a senior who tutors kindergartners in Spanish and conversations with several students who are bilingual support the main story on the German Club’s fundraising efforts for a trip to Germany.
ACADEMICS BY COURSES Caledonian, Campbell Hall, North Hollywood, CA Not everyone has the opportunity to cover the curricular program course by course. Rather than a single art spread, here there’s a spread for Ceramics, one for Printmaking and another for Photography. On this Painting spread, students of different levels discuss and are shown working on a variety of assignments. To cover the younger students in this K-12 school, each elementary grade has a spread of academics coverage featuring several layers of supporting coverage.
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Teresian, St. Teresa’s Academy, Kansas City, MO To maximize possibilities on coverage spreads, the staff housed team photos and scoreboards in a sports reference section. Titanium, Antelope (CA) HS A main story, concept-driven supporting coverage and scoreboards appeared on each spread, but team pics were in the reference section.
No matter how you divide your book or display your content, there are some necessary elements to cover
SPORTS AS THE ONLY PERMANENT RECORD OF YOUR SCHOOL EACH YEAR.
BY KATHY HABIGER
Sports coverage is hard. And extremely popular in most yearbooks. So it pays to examine your coverage closely each year. Biggest piece of advice? Make your coverage unique every year. Not even the most fanatical soccer mom wants to read the same old tired copy and see the same old posed photos each year.
ON THE BASIC LEVEL, YOU SHOULD HAVE ALL THESE THINGS SOMEWHERE IN YOUR BOOK: • Scoreboard with scores/results from each competition/game, including final records • Team photo with names of team members listed below or next to the photo • Action shots from multiple games and practices • Storytelling captions with results from the competition and quotes from player • Copy that emphasizes the personal side of the season • Some coverage of every team at every level
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Summit, Smoky Hill HS, Aurora, CO Including scoreboards and team photos on each coverage spread allows the readers to consume the entire story of each sport in one stop. In this book, the varsity team has a full-spread of coverage and the JV, sophomore and freshman teams combine to fill another spread.
ONCE YOU'VE GOT THE BASICS COVERED, CONSIDER THESE TIPS TO MAKE YOUR COVERAGE REALLY SPECIAL: Don’t try to give a summary of every game in your sports copy. Pick a really big game (regional final, rivalry, state competitions, senior night, etc.) or high impact event (injuries to major players, lack of seniors on the team, etc.) and write about that. Let the story of one big event start your copy, and relate that to how the season in general unfolded. Get to know your coaches and players. Introduce yourself at the beginning of the year and make frequent contact as the season progresses. The better they know you, the easier it will be for you to get interviews or statistics or results later on. Research your sport. Is it a swim meet or a swimming match? What’s the difference between a set and a match in volleyball? How do you score points in wrestling? Go to a practice and watch. Read articles in your local/school newspaper about the team and players. Do the heavy lifting before the season starts so you’ll be more informed before you cover it.
Go to games. Ok, not all of them, but the big ones. Yes, this means taking the day to go to a golf tournament or spending a Saturday at a cross country meet. You’ll be amazed how much you can improve coverage just by knowing a bit about the sport and the competitive environment. Tell readers something they don’t know. Every sports team in every school practices nearly every day. They lift weights and do conditioning during the off season. They all work hard. They all want to win state. And they all give 110 percent (or so they claim…). Avoid clichés like these, and you’ll be on your way to truly unique coverage that captures what happened this particular year.
Pilot, Redondo Union HS, Redondo Beach, CA A pair of personal profiles complement the main story and photos of the team in action on this swimming spread. Quinault, Aberdeen (WA) HS One of this book’s powerful design components was the use of large dominant photos, which often created a visual base for the spread.
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PEOPLE PAGES Unless you’re going for a section that is purely reference, the
BY CHARLA HARRIS
CAN BE DIFFERENT, INTERESTING AND FUN.
ROWS AND ROWS OF BORING MUG SHOTS (YERD TERMINOLOGY FOR SCHOOL PICTURES OR PORTRAITS). NOT THE MOST INTERESTING PART OF THE YEARBOOK UNLESS YOU SCAN FOR WEIRD HAIRDOS OR PEOPLE MAKING FACES.
WRONG!
PORTRAIT PAGES ARE GREAT PLACE TO INCLUDE: • All the student life coverage that just didn’t quite fit • Community coverage that you couldn’t squeeze into the ads section • Fun topics like trends or pop culture, or club activities that don’t warrant an entire spread • Profiles of cool, interesting and accomplished student
FOUR QUICK TIPS TO GET STARTED:
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Follow the rules. Design the mugs in rectangular blocks with the names to the outside for a reason -- it gives you a solid design element rather than 48 postage stamps decorating the page and distracting from your beautiful layout. Include everyone. Double check for identification, grade classification and spelling. List those “not pictured.” Now, get creative and put some coverage (a photo/copy package) on every spread to break up the mugs. And you can use alternate copy formats and design packages to amp up the fun factor. Try these ideas to pull the reader into the spread and expand your coverage:
LISTS (SEE ABOVE) David Letterman made them famous, but everyone still reads them. Get student input or do a survey to make it relevant.
PERSONALITY PROFILES Find the most interesting people in your school (and look for those kids who won’t be over covered in other sections) and write a short sketch.
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“People” includes everyone. That means that underclassmen, seniors, administrators, faculty, maintenance staff, cafeteria workers are all included in this section. Teachers don’t go into a separate section. Identify teachers by what they teach, what they coach, what they sponsor. You’ll want to remember this someday.
QUIZZES Matching students with quotes or personal items or Facebook statuses is a fun way to include people and cover pop culture/trends And the list goes on: surveys, he said/she said, quick facts, Q&A, etc.
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Poverello, Saint Francis HS, Mountain View, CA In some schools, full-color portraits are a privilege reserved for the senior class, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the spread can't be colorful. In this book, personal layers of coverage help further develop the concept.
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Historian, McClintock HS, Tempe, AZ Another option for the reference section is combining all classes except the graduating seniors. Rather than having separate sections for each grade, there’s a grade designation after each name.
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Costanoan, Mission San Jose HS, Fremont, CA In addition to quizzes, quote bars, an intro to the class officers and other grade-related coverage, this staff presented a full-page personal profile or two to break up the sea of faces in their 98-page people section. Utilizing a partial cut-out and a mix of candids, they created an airy, magazine-style look.
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Drawing Parallels, Greenspun Junior High, Henderson, NV The content in the people section may not always be specific to a certain grade. Some would contend that covering events, trends and other whole-school topics in each grade brings all readers to every spread — even if it’s only momentarily. Here, coverage of a popular school-wide fundraiser appears with sixth grade portraits.
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Westwind, West Henderson HS, Hendersonville, NC Senior-specific content like senior credits (activities listings) and superlatives fill four well-designed pages in the reference section, but readers used the general index that follows to locate themselves in the yearbook. The Clan, McLean (VA) HS It’s all done right here. The columns are narrow enough to use space efficiently. The type is easy to read. Spread topics are included alongside student/teacher names and are set apart using bold face and all caps. Best of all, the hanging indents make continuing entries easy to spot.
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Wingspan, James C. Enochs HS, Modesto, CA Because they had established colors for each type of content as the book opened, the staff color-coded index entries as well. Since student life spreads used green, for example, and sports gold, spreads in covering those topics were listed using those colors. Purple, the color of people coverage, distinguished all seniors’ entries.
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INDEX It takes some effort, but an amazing
HELPS THE YEARBOOK HOLD ITS VALUE THROUGHOUT THE YEARS.
What pages am I on? How many times are you in the book? Where is student council?” PERHAPS A YEARBOOK STAFF’S LEAST FAVORITE SECTION TO CREATE BUT PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT, THE INDEX IS AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE AND ONE OF THE FIRST PLACES IN THE YEARBOOK MOST STUDENTS LOOK. Staffs may see the index as a list of names and pages numbers, but it is so much more than that. It should also be a list of clubs, activities, sports, classes and events. Many schools also use the index as a reference section where they include team and group photos, sports records, and other data not included on coverage spreads in the book. The index can be a great production tool too. If you use HJ Index Builder in InDesign or the index builder feature in eDesign, you can run it frequently throughout the year to ensure coverage and check name spellings. (Let’s face it. Mistakes happen. However, there is no reason to misspell a name in the yearbook when you can check it so frequently and so easily.)
BY JAMES YOAKLEY
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO TO HELP MAKE YOUR INDEX EVEN BETTER? Make sure the font you choose is easy to read and opt for more columns rather than fewer. Hanging indents make those entries that require two lines easy to read as only names appear on the left margin. Use ALL CAPS, bold faced or italicized type and/or color to create a visual key to various kinds of entries (spread topics, sections, groups, advertisers, seniors, etc.). If you use a plan to introduce sections other than the traditional student life, academics, groups, sports and people, you might also consider creating a separate listing for each of the traditional sections so it’s clear that coverage was actually enhanced, not compromised. If you include group or team pictures in your reference section, make sure all the faces are about the same size. A pencil eraser is a good size reference as anything smaller than that is hard to see. If you have a large team photo, like football (for example), it might be wise to break them into groups. Adding a student’s picture to represent each letter is a great way to add faces. Keep your fonts small. If you plan it right and begin working on it early, you’ll have an index that represents the rest of your book. It’ll be the section it is supposed to be and not an afterthought or worse, just a list of names and numbers.
Y E A R B O O KD I S C OV E R I E S . C O M VOLUME SIXTEEN ISSUE THREE
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While they may later be able to recall the principles of a great candid or the rules for a powerful headline in years to come, they’ll always remember those yerdly
STAFF
TRADITIONS SPECIFIC TO THEIR YEARS ON STAFF.
Then, when the party ends, the books go back into the cartons until it’s time for the school-wide signing party; the staffers receive their books the same day as everyone else. But the staff has already had the chance to celebrate the book they made — and they have done some damage to a mountain of pasta.
PHOTO BY COURTNEY NIEMANN
ONE OF THE LONGEST-STANDING TRADITIONS OF THE SUNSET STAFF AT CORONA DEL SOL HS IN TEMPE, AZ IS THE END-OF-THE-YEAR LASAGNE PARTY ADVISER MARGIE DiCESARE THROWS AT HER HOUSE EACH SPRING. IT’S NOT SOMETHING SHE’S QUIET ABOUT. MANY OF THE STAFFERS HAVE ATTENDED IN PREVIOUS YEARS, BUT THOSE WHO HAVEN’T LEARN ABOUT THE SOIREE AS SCHOOL BEGINS. For DiCesare, it’s the last of many teambuilding and staff bonding activities. By the time the preview/lasagne party rolls around, the staffers will have played goofy games, celebrated a year’s worth of birthdays and holidays and sung/danced/snacked their way through deadline after deadline. On the big day, the staffers gather at their adviser’s home. They devour salad and multiple pans of lasagne. After dinner, the editor enters the house and returns with a copy of the book. Before long, everyone has a copy. They spending the next couple of hours reading, laughing, crying and remembering their year together. They study their masterpiece (and are forbidden to make negative comments for the first week).
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Y E A R B O O K D I S C O V E R I E S . C O M VOLUME SIXTEEN ISSUE THREE
Charla Harris has advised publications at Pleasant Grove HS in Texarkana, TX for decades. The multi-media production staffs (yearbook, newspaper, online and TV) started a new subgroup earlier this year. “It was a Monday and I was in a bad mood. Only one photographer had showed up to the Sadie Hawkins dance with a camera. Everyone was mad and we were stressing about what we were going to do about the Sadie spread. There are only five staffers in
that class period, and one of the girls said, ‘Mrs. Harris, I think we need to do yoga.’ “So we got on the floor and stretched and breathed for awhile and then we ended up laying there and laughing (I think it was the Downward Dog position that did it). We figured out how to solve the Sadie problem and we all felt much better.” “Later, we started talking about going to the yoga class at the gym and then getting one of our other staffers to teach yearbook yoga.”
Yearbook requires a lot of mental energy. A few minutes of breathing, stretching and relaxing definitely helps re-energize my yerds.”
It just evolved from there. They began to gather once a week before school starts for Yearbook Yoga. The group varied from week to week and — after some discussion — they came to several conclusions: It’s less embarrassing if the group is not co-ed, yearbook yoga definitely deserves its own t-shirts and “namaste” is a great way to say “good morning.” YEARBOOK YOGA Adviser Charla Harris (left) and members of her publications/media staffs model their Yearbook Yoga t-shirts. While the group was originally all-female, several guys joined as time passed.
PHOTO BY NATALIE THIGPEN
F
WHAT IT TAKES
TO CREATE
YOUR YEARBOOK
BY THE NUMBERS: HERFF JONES PLANT FACTOIDS
100000000 ’ ’ HJ WILL APPLY NEARLY
IM-PRESS-IVE
THE HARDWARE: KOMORI SUPER-PERFECTOR
IMPRESSIONS THIS YEAR!
HOW DOES UV COATING WORK?
8
HERFF JONES OWNS
KOMORI PRESSES
USING ULTRA VIOLET LIGHT INSTEAD OF HEAT, THE UV CURING PROCESS IS A PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTION. LIQUID MONOMERS AND OLIGOMERS ARE MIXED WITH A SMALL PERCENT OF PHOTOINITIATORS, AND THEN EXPOSED TO UV ENERGY. WITHIN A FEW SECONDS, THE LIQUID COATINGS HARDEN.
HERFF JONES PLANTS USE: (ALL QUANTITIES ARE APPROXIMATED)
5000 ’ 1450 ’ 13000 2’500 50 ’ A KOMORI PRESS IS:
40’ 20’ 12’ LONG
X
WIDE
TONS OF PAPER
WE ALSO RECYCLE
TALL
IT CAN PRINT
SHEETS (TWO-SIDED) AN HOUR
WE SHIP THOUSANDS OF SCHOOLS MILLIONS OF BOOKS IN OUR SPRING SEASON ALONE.
TONS OF PAPER
POUNDS OF PRESS POWDER
TONS OF OFFSET INK
ONE YEARBOOK SHIPPING BOX COULD CONTAIN ANYWHERE FROM 46 SMALL SIZE 7 HARD COVER BOOKS TO EIGHT LARGE SIZE 9 BOOKS.
Students know some ADVANTAGES OF BEING ON THE YEARBOOK STAFF. Staffers are aware of what’s going on at school. They have access to GREAT PHOTO AND COMPUTER EQUIPMENT. YEARBOOKERS LEARN REAL-LIFE SKILLS and get to LEAVE THEIR MARK by CREATING A BOOK THAT LASTS FOREVER. But there are even more great answers to the question WHY YEARBOOK?
HE’S WHY... Yearbookers learn so many life skills being on staff. We worked together as a real team, and we practiced revision skills almost daily. A big one for me was meeting deadlines. I also learned when to step forward as a leader and how to step back and be a first follower. As a writer, I mastered the short piece. I got good at ‘trimming the fat’ and can effectively communicate my message.” DR. WESLEY NYBERG
Founder, Waukee Wellness & Chiropractic Healthy living columnist for local publications Writer/Designer/Photographer 1995-98 The Dragon, Johnston (IA) HS BA Psychology - University of Iowa 2001 Doctor of Chiropractic - Palmer College of Chiropractic 2005
Need to help parents or administrators understand the lasting value of yearbook? Our brochure and video make the powerful message clear. Staff size affected by changing requirements? Recruiting an amazing staff has never been easier; these fun materials help students understand all of the skills they will learn in yearbook.
WATCH OUR INFORMATIVE VIDEO, WHY YEARBOOK?, THROUGH THIS TAG OR ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL AT: WWW.YOUTUBE.COM / HERFFJONESYEARBOOKS