Sample school analysis:
School’s name: Mason High School City, State: Lone Prairie, OK Describe location: In the flat grasslands on the outskirts of town Mascot: Mustang School colors: Teal and purple Traditions: • It’s the only high school in town • Spring fling - class competitions with some faculty participating • Community fair brings participants from across the U.S. and Canada to participate • Christmas Angel Tree Project raises funds for less fortunate children in the community School’s pride factors: • Nationally-recognized physical fitness program • State Math Team and Academic Team champions • FFA received state and national honors • Law enforcement officers meet with classes each year to keep students on a good path • Red Ribbon Week encourages students to avoid drugs and alcohol throughout their lives
Lesson 1: Secondary schools How this school differs from other schools: • Test scores are always in the top ten percent of the state • Parent involvement in all grades; nationally recognized PTA • Our building is 75 years old and is on the National Historic Registry. It has been well cared-for. • Nationally-recognized diversity program Changes/challenges for this year: • State has cut our funding by 40%, possibly forcing us to cut programs • Principal and his leadership council are making plans for fund-raisers to offset the cuts • Community members are assisting as volunteer teachers, aides, custodians and bus drivers to help Honors/awards: • School received state school spirit award • Honored for volunteering in community • Governor showcased our academic pep rally • NEA recognized our goal-setting program • State Teacher of the Year • “Proud to be You-nique” honors from the NEA
Three possible theme ideas: 1. A Horse of a Different Color (based on school colors and the unique pride-building programs in the school) 2. Just Cut It Out (based on budget cuts and how we are dealing with them) 3. You-niquely yours (based on the wide variety of personalities within the school and our unique school colors)
Our choice: A Horse of a Different Color Spinoff section titles: Student Life: Our Colorful World Sports: Pride in Our Colors Academics: Colorful Facts Organizations: Colorful Interests People: Colorful Personalities Design/copy strategies: • Colorful paint splatters behind headlines, caption headlines and secondary modules • Color-coded sections • Colorful phrases and descriptions in stories • Colorful action photos featuring our school colors
CORE Standards for Theme - Speaking and Listening: - 9-12.1, 9-12.1a, 9-12.2, 9-12.4, 9-12.5 - page 50; Writing: 9-12.4, 1-12.5, 9-12.6 - page 46; Language Standards - 9-12.1, 9-12.2, 9-12.3 - page 54; 9-12.4.c, 9-12.4d, 9-12.5, 9-12.6 - page 55
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Choosing your theme
Why have a theme?
The yearbook theme is the unifying device that holds the book together verbally and visually. The best themes reflect specific, unique aspects of the year. For example, if the school receives recognition from an outside source, the staff might select “An A-maze-ing Year” for the concept and use a colorful maze on the cover and throughout the book. If the school is making cuts due to a budget shortfall but trying to do more with less (fewer faculty, less money, etc.), the staff might select “Less is More” as the theme. If there are no unusual aspects to the upcoming year, the staff might focus on the unique personalities in the school, using “You-nique” as the theme. What works for one school may not work for another. It’s important to choose a theme that truly reflects the events and personalities within the school.
How do we choose a theme?
A good approach when selecting the theme is to host a staff discussion, answering the school analysis questions in Exercise 1. Talk about your school — how it’s different from all other schools in your area, in your state and in your country. What makes everyone proud of your school? What groups shine above all others? What words describe your student body? What concept will help your staff tell the story of the year? When you’ve answered those questions and others, your theme will emerge. Once you’ve chosen it, you’ll want to discuss graphic elements, photos, words, colors and typography that will reflect the theme. Use those elements to unify your book verbally and visually.
Theme elements
The theme statement or a reference to it appears on the cover. If a staff chooses to print on the endsheets (the heavy paper that holds the book to the cover), the theme may be printed on the endsheet with theme-inspired titles for each section of the book. The theme appears again on the title page (page one), opening section, dividers and closing section. To emphasize the theme in each section, consider adding theme-related titles to the secondary coverage sidebars in each section.
Additional resources: PowerPoint Video
Curriculum: Theme Chapter 3 - pages 1-52 Theme ideas Chapter 3 - pages 53-58 Exercise 1 Host a discussion about the unique aspects of your school. Use the questions in Exercise 1 as your guide. Following the discussion, use Exercise 2 to create your theme.