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Mt. Whitney High School (Visalia, Calif.)

The yearbook is a powerful learning tool that demands ­critical thinking to tell the story of a school’s year in words and in photographs as well as through graphic design. As a business, the yearbook is one of the school’s largest.

But the yearbook can be so much more.

Yearbooks have changed little in the last 100 or so years.

Only in the last decade or two have schools begun to think of new ways to make their yearbook more diverse, more exciting and more inclusive.

T E AC H I N G A N O L D E D I TO R N E W T R I C K S SPRING 2004

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Atlee High School (Mechanicsville, Va.)

The examples used in this article came from the Best of the High School Press CD-Rom Edition, featuring more than 1,000 publication examples from National Scholastic Press Association’s Best of the High School Press. It is available from the JEA Bookstore.

Give academics dose of vigor True/False. The most read section of your yearbook is the academics section.

If you answered honestly, you probably said, “False.”

True/False. No matter what you try, no one will read it anyway.

Answer: False. If you recognize the limitations of this statement, count yourself an imaginative adviser or editor. By approaching the planning and the implementation of your academics section with a renewed vigor and enthusiasm, you, too, can have an academics section that will be a lively and an entertaining section of the book.

As you think about what to do with academic coverage, consider what you have done in the past.

Has it been the same year after year? Have you captured the memories from classes that truly made the year a memorable one academically? Think about how you are going to do that.

Consider content. Stay away from the same old divisions by departments, such as language arts, math/science, social studies. Figure out what’s new, what’s outstanding and what’s interesting in this year’s academics circles.

For example, the Legend staff from Atlee High School (Mechanicsville, Va.), decided to do an academics feature on SATs and PSATs. They featured a question/answer sidebar and a college applications focus that used extended captions to accent the dominant photo and copy block. The approach brought student opinion and insight into the spread.

The way your staff chooses to approach the

coverage of those happenings in academics can also make or break the section. Cover the more challenging aspects of academia. Write about specific events. Describe interesting experiments and projects. Focus on anything that was unusual during the year.

Take a look at what The Chase from Chase County High School (Cottonwood Falls, Kan.), did with one of its academics spreads.

Editors used the headline “Unique Learning

Chase County High School (Cottonwood Falls, Kan.)

Opportunities” and focused on nine areas within their curriculum. All seven photos featured individuals engaged in their learning while artwork added a different touch to the spread. Quotes, quotes and more quotes made the spread fun to read.

Don’t always think coverage has to be from within the four walls of the school. Think about the activities students engage in to learn outside of school. Panther Tales from Duncanville High School (Duncanville, Texas) chose to cover a trip classes took to Europe during spring break. They included an interesting comparison/contrast sidebar of Class vs.

Travels and mixed that with excellent photos and quote-filled copy.

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Cinco Ranch High School (Katy, Texas) Bay High School (Bay Village, Ohio)

Duncanville High School (Duncanville, Texas)

The Kabekonian of Stillwater Area High School (Stillwater, Minn.) also covered field trips. The pictorial presentation, highlighted by an outstanding dominant photo, made the spread come alive for the reader.

Stillwater Area High School (Stillwater, Minn.)

Good photos are a key to a more exciting academics section. Both the Panorama staff at Cinco Ranch High School (Katy, Texas), and the In An Instant staff of Bay High School (Bay Village, Ohio), made wise choices in their photo selections. Note, for example, how students

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are engaged in the action of the spread. They are not simply seated at desks with bored looks.

How about having some fun with your coverage? “Academic Journey” was the headline of a spread produced by the Oak staff at Mt. Whitney High School (Visalia, Calif.) while “Where Do You Weigh In?” attracted readers of the Heritage yearbook, Horizon High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.). Both spreads led the reader on a journey, the first from one part of the school to another and the second to determine what kind of student the reader was.

Don’t forget about writing copy that will be read. Use quick reads, such as questions/answers, quizzes, copy bites and first-person profiles to bring readers into the spread.

Consider the approach of the Rampages staff from Casa Roble High School (Orangevale, Calif.). They utilized a timeline entitled “Dates and Details” and accented that with a first-person account, this one written by a teacher, to make the page reader friendly.

Now, take the rest of the quiz.

True/False. We could make our academics section better if we implemented ideas and concepts presented in these examples. Or better yet, stimulated by these examples, reach for new approaches.

Answer: Absolutely and undeniably true.n

Horizon High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.)

Casa Roble High School (Orangevale, Calif.)

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For the curriculum pages, which appeared in a variety of ways throughout the book, staff members discussed dissections in science, term papers in English and profiled a first-year science teacher. Each photo focused on different aspects of the school curriculum. From the 2002 Muncie (Ind.) Central High School Magician, Matt Nacrelli and Heather Wible, editors; Terry Nelson, adviser

Topical coverage energizes copy Yearbook students never argued about who got to be academics editor.

“Please, can’t I have student life?” they would say. “That’s where all the fun stuff is. Or can I have seniors, or people? Just don’t give me academics, please! It’s so boring!”

And time and time again, I would try to explain to the poor junior assistant editor why it was so important that she make academics as interesting as possible or why he was wrong when he said academics was boring.

I could understand why they felt that way.

It was a challenge each year to come up with creative coverage ideas for academics. Not only can it be difficult to shoot interesting photos (“But Mrs. Negri, that’s what they do in computer science — they all sit at computers all period! What else am I supposed to shoot?”).

But it is also hard to come up with an angle that will make this year’s math spread different from the spreads in the last five yearbooks.

When we looked at how we covered topics in the yearbook, it became apparent that we were treating academics differently from other sections. In student life, for example, we looked at a series of criteria when planning coverage: Is it tradition, something we cannot omit? Does it involve a large number of students? Is it something students will remember in 10 years? Is it unique to this year? Is it visually appealing?

When planning coverage for academics, however, it came down to one spread per subject: the math spread, the science spread, the vocational spread, the technology spread….

And I was back trying to explain to the junior editor that being in charge of academics was not a punishment.

Clubs and organizations also seemed to

receive the one-spread-per treatment, which made it easy to cover the active groups but difficult for those that were less active.

International Club might yield only a few photo opportunities so it was a challenge for the photographers and writers to cover while STUCO had events weekly. And it did not really seem like an accurate reflection of the year’s events: If Chess Club met only twice in the year and did nothing but play chess at both meetings, should it get the same coverage as Key Club, which had a service project a month and sponsored a talent show?

When we finally identified the differences in our criteria for coverage for different sections, we asked ourselves, “Why are we doing it this way?” The answer — “because that’s the way we’ve always done it” — was not good enough to convince the staff.

Then we started looking at ways to cover academics and organizations the same way we covered student life. We looked for trends, common factors, unique events, memorable moments and ways we could convey all those things in the yearbook. The result is coverage we feel better serves the students.

For academics, we cover topics that go across the curriculum: study habits, all-night study sessions, skits and plays, unusual assignments, hands-on learning, test anxiety, life skills learned in the classroom, field trips, guest speakers, group projects, procrastination, unique lecture presentations, academic competitions and more. Once the staff began brainstorming, it was easy to come up with topics that would involve more students and would yield attractive, visual spreads. We took some care to ensure that all of the academic areas could be covered on at least two spreads, and we shot photos and wrote stories that reflected the diversity of the students and of the course options they had before them.

One year we included a spread with survival tips for freshmen, including information contributed by students from all classifica-

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Sophomores Noele Nguyen, Rachel Cheuk and Irma Rauda discuss a story for the student life section. All three are newcomers to the staff. Photo by Sheila Renee Kirk.

Editor Humberto Martinez creates the ladder for the Safari, which will include a full-color senior section for the first time. Photo by Sheila Renee Kirk.

tions — a kind of “if I had known then what I know now.” We have covered aspects of our school that are unique and memorable, such as the “Japan seminar” taught to all freshman students each year, complete with the dried seaweed samples and the story about the hightech toilet. One popular spread was “natural talents vs. hard work,” which juxtaposed areas in which some students excelled with little effort against the classes in which they had to work hard to achieve.

For clubs and organizations, we look for stories that will involve several clubs — fundraisers, community service projects, trips, competitions, performances, traditions, meeting ice-breakers, elections, etc. We ask, “What do the clubs do?” rather than what they are. Occasionally there may be justification for focusing a spread on a single organization — for example, a large project that involves

a high percentage of the students. But even those efforts usually involve the cooperative effort of several clubs.

While at first club officers expressed concern that a topical approach would give them less coverage (“You mean we won’t have a page to ourselves?”), the end result pleased them by presenting a more complete picture of their activities — plus more listings in the index.

A spread on pre-performance anxiety brings in drama, choir and band ADVANTAGES but also art as students • “Lazy” spreads — with all photos shot on one day talk about preparing for and a story that lists all the literature and writing competition. A spread studied in English this year or the objects of Key on meetings includes the Club — cannot be used. thespians’ improvisational • Yearbook staffs do not have to strain to give equal games, student council’s club coverage when there has not been equal club icebreakers and publicaactivity. tion staffs’ ever-present • Spreads generally receive better readership — students will skip a spread devoted to a club of which snacks. they are not members, but they will read several The different approach spreads that involve their club in some way, includhas yielded unexpected ing sidebars and secondary coverage. results. Some spreads, • Coverage of diverse students is more thorough such as personal pasbecause many topics can involve all grades, races and religions as well as both genders. sions, provide crossovers between academics and • Group photos do not become the dominant pictures on the club spreads. organizations as students • The special education and ESL students are mainpursue their interests streamed into the yearbook rather than being segin the classroom and in regated or ignored. Like other students, these sturelated organizations, dents can be interviewed for stories on study skills, such as speech and debate hands-on projects, memorable assignments or other topics. Enlist the advice of special needs teachers club or FBLA. early in the year.

We have also found it • Brainstorming is easier because the topics can apply easier to cover the diverto multiple courses; the task becomes not to come sity of students because up with a spread for the math classes, for example, we are getting quotes but to figure out how many topics can be written to include math students. from average students, not simply from the club offi• Active clubs will receive coverage for what they did. cers. Almost any student • So will inactive clubs. I have heard club officers vowing to be more active next year after seeing can be included in a story other clubs get more coverage in the yearbook — about the most unusual and that can benefit their members and the school project he has ever been as a whole. assigned or the strangest fundraiser in which he has DISADVANTAGES participated.

• “Lazy” spreads — with all photos shot on one day, My yearbook students and a story that lists all the things studied in English are more satisfied with this year or the objects of Key Club — cannot be used. Yearbook staffs have to be willing to put in their academics and the effort it requires for better coverage. clubs sections, and it has • Sometimes club members will react negatively to become a point of pride the first book with the new coverage. However, this for them that they have reaction can be reduced with good readers’ serdropped a tradition in vices, particularly the index, and care to ensure that each club is included at least once in the section. favor of superior cover• Club group photos can be difficult to place elseage. n where in the book. They require planning and thorough indexing. Group photos should be similar in size and appearance.

• Some clubs and classes are difficult to photograph.

Be creative when generating story and photo angles.

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In the people section, this personality profile about a super fan, by Bobby Gwizdz, added vitality to the section. The story was full of quotes and specific facts, such as details about how much James spent on paint ($16-20/week) and how long it takes him to apply the paint (30 minutes). From the 2002 East Lansing (Mich.) High School Ceniad, Nick Mrozowski, editor; Lynn Strause, adviser.

What yearbooks should be The yearbook experience differs for students throughout the nation. For many, it is a social activity, purely extracurricular, marginally journalistic. Some students earn art or technology credits for taking yearbook.

For others, it is a full-credit course in the language arts curriculum. In this case, the product of the course should be secondary to the process of teaching journalism. I’m not suggesting they are mutually exclusive, but it’s more important that the student exit the course a better thinker and writer than it is that the yearbook sold to 60 percent of the students rather than 55 percent.

By “writer,” I mean writing that will translate into meaningful college and career writing experiences. At the root of these experiences will be analysis and interpretation rather than compilation or regurgitation of data. While students should learn and may occasionally use lists, quote blocks, fill-in-the-blanks, Dewer’s profiles and the ubiquitous “What did you do over spring break? Went skiing, slept, went to the beach, stayed home, blah, blah, blah…,” they should at the center of the course learn to analyze and interpret the events of the year and to relate them to readers in a way that is clear, concise and accurate.

This isn’t easy. And with the rush toward all-alternative copy yearbooks, I fear that these experiences will become less frequent, particularly if scholastic press associations tilt away from traditional writing forms. If that occurs, many may find it difficult to defend yearbook as a language arts course.

Admittedly, newspaper and yearbook teach far more than writing, but if the writing component is compromised or minimized, then support for the course in the general curriculum may wither. Also, the experience will return to what it was in the 1960s and 70s — mostly extracurricular and social experiences — before Col. Chuck Savedge, a yearbook crusader who taught in a Virginia private high school, led the charge toward journalistic yearbooks.

JOURNALISTIC YEARBOOKS OK, now what does all that mean? What is it to have a journalistic yearbook?

It means that you cover news as would a newspaper or newsmagazine. Reporters choose the best way to tell the story. It may be a list. It may be a quote block. It may be a story that analyzes how Fact A produced Result B. In a story about teacher funding cuts, a reporter might examine how a proposal affected the school. She might talk to teachers, who tell their specific stories. The impact on an English teacher who is expected to grade term papers may be much different than on a math teacher. The reporter might show the differences.

Janice Knight teaches four AP English classes per day. Each class contains at least 25 students.

On any given night, she spends three or four hours grading essays or writing assignments.

“You can’t Scantron writing,” she said. “You have to read it and comment on every line. Unless you just skim it, looking for spelling and grammatical errors, it takes a lot of time.”

A proposal in the state legislature to increase the teacher-pupil ratio to an average of 17-1 in an effort to save money angers her, she said, because “if they cut jobs, my class size will increase. That means I either burn out quicker or cut back the quality of instruction I can offer my students.

Either way, kids lose.”

Unfortunately, her reaction to the proposal was understandably common among teachers.

I fear that many yearbooks will not cover such a story because it does not satisfy the “feel good” mentality — it’s a tough job for the reporter to dig up all these facts. It’s a tough job for the reader to digest them.

The purpose of the journalistic yearbook course is to produce better critical thinkers and better critical readers.

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CLICHÉ WRITING The move away from traditional writing models is based on the supposition that students do not read yearbook copy. Most probably do not. And who could blame them when copy recycles the same clichés yearafter-year? For example: Nearly 50 members of the yearbook staff spent many hours working to create a 360-page book that portrayed life and memories. The best part of the class, staff members said, was learning new techniques and improving their skills while the worst part was computer and disc crashes, which upset many.

“It was fun but now and then, it was really frustrating,” editor Edward Chang said. “Through it all, we got really close as a staff and have produced a book that we hope students will enjoy now and cherish for the rest of their lives.”

In contrast, a story that captures the drama of a yearbook staff in the midst of a computer crash at deadline may be read and certainly would withstand the test of time. For example: All Karen Dietrich needed to complete her student life spread was to finish a caption and edit a six-inch story on homecoming. Then, the computer cratered.

“I lost everything,” Dietrich said. “A week’s worth of work, down the drain. I almost cried.”

Computer crashes, deadline crunches, bruised egos, frayed nerves and writer’s cramp were among the occupational hazards suffered by members of the yearbook staff, who labored well past midnight often, scrambling to meet an important deadline while trying to figure out InDesign 2.2 and Adobe Photoshop, editing stories turned in hours before deadline and shoehorning horizontal photos into vertical holes on a page.

“Sometimes, you get so frustrated, you want to scream,” editor Edward Chang said.

Such intense conditions create a highly volatile environment.

“One night, two of the section editors almost got into a fist fight over a photograph,” Chang said. “Both wanted it for their section. That’s how intense it gets. Sometimes, we’ll rip into each other, just to release tension. But about then, a computer will crash, and we will all pitch in to help revive whatever was lost. We fought and argued, but we were like a family when it came down to the wire. That’s yearbook.”

I can defend this story journalistically. As a writing experience, I’ll hold this up against anything the rest of the English department produces. Students who learn to write this well will have little to fear of college essays and reports. Can you say the same about a student whose entire journalistic writing experience consists of copying quotes from a survey?

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Rather than cover the Sept. 11 attacks in a traditional manner, writers Jennifer Rorie and Katherine Leslie wrote about faith in a variety of students’ lives. The coverage included a Muslim student’s vacation to Turkey and Fellowship of Christian Athletes get-togethers. From the 2002 Westlake High School (Austin, Texas) El Paisano, Doug Michalsky, editor; Cindy Todd, adviser.

BE JOURNALISTS A final note: A few summers ago, I presented a writing lecture to yearbook editors on the next to the last day of a workshop. The three days prior to my lecture had been devoted to developing theme packets for a year that had not taken place and for which students had no clue how it might unfold.

I began with a basic editing exercise, assuming that editors edit and could use some polish doing so.

Apparently not. The editors acted as though I had asked them to clean a chicken coop.

“We really don’t edit copy,” a young lady told me.

“Well, what does a yearbook editor do?” I asked.

“I–we–organize information,” she replied.

“And what do you organize?” I answered. “Socks?

Clothes hangers? Paper clips?”

No response.

“You organize words and pictures,” I said. “Words and pictures. Facts and images about this year, this school, this group of people at this special moment in their lives. And because you organize these facts, you must think journalistically. You’re not creating a work of fiction here.”

I then panned the class and asked, “You do think of yourself as journalists, don’t you?”

Again, no response.

“Well, don’t you?” I repeated in my best “I’m about to get cheesed off here” voice. “How many of you think of yourself as a journalist?”

Not one of the 45 students in the yearbook editor’s class on the next to the final day of a summer workshop raised a hand. Yearbook copy will change for the better only when every hand responds positively to my question. Journalists are people who make words tell stories in compelling ways. That is how they produce damn good yearbooks. n

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The Rocklin High School yearbook is responsive to the school community. It strives to include as many students as possible.

What yearbooks could be By changing a few letters, a complete shift of perspectives develops and a fresh, exciting feel arrives with a yearbook unique to your school.

Could.

Not should.

By stopping at the guidelines published by national organizations, by listening to workshop instructors or convention speakers and following their blueprints, by following school traditions without question, we limit the yearbook to what should be. What could it be for your school?

It still could be many of the ideas you will draw from the above. Certainly it remains a “memory/history/entertainment/education/ reference” book. Certainly the sources provide a solid start. But hardly the end all and say all for your school. You could do much more.

How do you open up your minds and create a yearbook your students will not only buy but also love? Talk to them.

Let’s start with basic premises from which you need to operate 1. The yearbook is for students, by students and about students. It is a powerful learning tool that demands critical thinking to tell the story of a school’s year by words and photographs as well as through graphic design. Plus, students must manage one of the school’s largest businesses.

2. Yearbooks can be more than the above.

They can also be: diverse, exciting and inclusive.

Diversity establishes our goal to cover as many different students as possible from a wide variety of angles and by using multiple techniques.

Excitement means we are willing to open the computer-driven design templates that dominate today’s books and provide variety.

It also means we will not establish a single copy pattern and repeat it over and over and over... and bore our readers to death. There is a whole world of alternative copy.

Inclusive challenges us to find ways to help students feel a part of the school’s history in the only document that records the specific year. Again we are driven toward variety rather than redundancy.

TALK TO YOUR STUDENTS It sounds so simple, but it is a real challenge.

Many staffs will say, “We know what our students want. They’re our friends.” Oops, what about the other 90 percent of campus?

At least one award-winning California staff admits it does not care. Their staff philosophy is “Hey, do the book for ourselves, and they still sell a high percent.” Hard to argue with financial success, but where’s the learning in that?

To make these changes, you must actively pursue ways to communicate with your students. Below are some that have worked at Rocklin High School.

WRITTEN SURVEYS Obvious — and a good first step.

Include a written survey of feedback you want with books at distribution. Importance of color? Subjects to cover in color? What wasn’t covered you’d have liked to see? The list is as endless as your brainstorming.

Students at Rocklin actually voted on the subjects they wanted to see photographed on the cover of the 1998 book. Was it followed exactly? Not possible. Did it provide ideas?

Yes. It also gave the students a glimpse of the book in September and helped increase presales by 50 percent.

Do ongoing surveys about coverage decisions as the year goes on. Use quick in-person surveys in the format suggested below.

PERSONAL CONTACT More effective.

Why? Students form an attachment with at least one member of the staff. Rocklin

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developed a “personal yearbook student” philosophy where pairs of staffers adopted two or three classrooms for the year. They made periodic announcements in the rooms, such as requesting photographs, introducing many surveys, announcing and following up on sales and more. They also were responsible for creating a record of how to spell every student’s name correctly and how to use it correctly (Matt rather than the computer printouts Matthew).

Finally, they set a goal of getting every student in the book at least one additional time. This, too, helped push sales to 90 percent (1,365 out of 1,520 students). It brought a variety of students into the book through quotes, surveys and, most enriching, through the use of student-provided photographs.

FOCUS GROUPS Highly enlightening and most effective.

For serious, detailed feedback about your book, form a variety of focus groups. These are detailed open forums with four-10 students discussing specific questions concerning the yearbook.

Consider running a variety of focus groups.

Certainly your student government can provide excellent feedback. However, expand your options with a mixed group by grades, interests and school involvement. Staffs might also organize a focus group by grade level or one made up only of students who did not purchase the book.

Each group will provide different views and useful information.

“Focus groups are a tool that professional marketing has used for years to identify the wants and needs of their customers,” consultant John Cutsinger told the Rocklin staff.

“Why wouldn’t we want that feedback and then combine our journalism skills with their ideas to create an exciting history of the year in terms our students relate to?”

Ask your participants to prepare by looking over the book in detail for things they liked and did not like. Provide them with motivation ... as simple as food or as obvious as a $5 discount on next year’s book. Also, make sure they have a book at hand. Take a real risk, and have a group look over books from other schools with different styles and story ideas.

Discuss what they liked and didn’t like.

SPRING 2004

This academics section features the results of student polls and a lot of quotations from students. This academics spread focused on dance class in which 215 students participated. From the 2002 Tonitrus Rocklin (Calif.) High School, Jennifer Christensen and Jill Matney, coaches; Casey Nichols, adviser.

Prepare your questions ahead, but be certain there are plenty of open-ended options and time for the participants to add their own questions and thoughts. Be prepared to audiotape or videotape the discussion.

Consistently a few points will be made: 1. Students want to see themselves and their friends in the yearbook.

2. In most books, they would like to see more photographs (like the magazines they read).

3. Students have not read the copy, but say, “We might later.”

4. They do read captions although not always the whole statement.

QUESTIONS FOR FOCUS GROUPS The results will almost • What was the best thing about the yearbook? always be universal.

• What part didn’t you look at and why?

However, Rocklin High School has received that • What would you like to see more of? Why? feedback plus much more.

• What was not in the book that you’d like to see?

The ideas led to major • How can we make the yearbook more interesting for you and for your friends? changes in the yearbook.

Expand discussions to the specifics of your book with • Rocklin students want students looking at them. Sometimes explanations some kind of school are needed. Compare your book with others. Ask color representation specific questions. Dig. Follow up. Learn. on the cover. They’re proud of their school.

• They want signing room, preferably on the endsheets.

• They want more photographs than in their typical magazines.

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THE IDEAL DATE To set the tone, try the following warmup exercise. You shouldn’t mention yearbooks until wrapping up.

“Today, we are going to forget about yearbooks. I want you and (whatever groups you decide on) to brainstorm a list of the qualities you’d like in an ideal person to date.”

Students will laugh, but assure them you’re serious. Have them refine that list to a Top 10.

You will compile a list that includes things such as “nice face,” “sense of humor,” “easy to talk to.” Almost all examples you can equate to yearbooks, such as “attractive cover,” “humor in the book,” “easy to read.”

Then have your staff take their ideas and create a Top 10 list that you post on the wall of the qualities you want in your yearbook.

FROM Wendy Kruger, Northrop High School, Ind.

THE POWER OF TEAMING Many of the changes addressed here, and some not, are made possible by the power of teams.

Every person on the 60-person Rocklin High School staff has a partner – all editors and all two-person production teams.

By implementing and adapting the teaming structure taught to the staff by consultant John Cutsinger, the book opened up and became truly a team effort.

Production pairs were given basic design

• Homecoming is more important than the yearbook staff realized. Best input: Make sure we get good, full photographs of all four class floats. Students work long, hard hours on them and want them in their yearbook.

• It seems as though sports dominates the book. Result: For two years JV and freshmen received single page coverage that was photo intensive, and sports was divided into two separate sections. The change avoids 76 consecutive pages of sports if each team received a double-page spread.

Non-athletes find the book friendlier, and athletes are satisfied with the in-depth coverage.

• Students prefer quote copy and alternative copy to traditional feature style.

Other changes received positive feedback in June: A very busy, magazine-style design featuring 10 to 20 photos per spread (many photos provided from students themselves).

and coverage guidelines for each of their spreads and then empowered to find the best way to tell and show the story. They were “coached” by editors in different specialties.

The result is a book that certainly appears busy and almost random, but is one that covers the school in a breadth and depth never before possible. It also includes “surprises” on virtually every spread that keeps the book from being boring or predictable.

By maximizing the editors’ management skills (they produce no pages) and empowering the teams, the 300-page book was produced without ever working beyond 6 p.m. after school or on Saturdays.

Keeping the book at a size 8 — students had not noticed and loved the idea of investing the money in more pages. Spreading the color further through the book by alternating blackand-white with four-color. Mixing underclass photographs as long as some specific class coverage was included in the book.

The list goes on, and it will be unique to each school.

The risk is only in setting the staff’s collective ego aside and opening up to the real owners of the yearbook — the students.

The rewards are rich. At distribution, Rocklin students sat and looked over the book slowly for hours. After generous praise, only one minor complaint surfaced that night.

Sales rocketed, and the yearbook staff left for summer or college satisfied and proud.

Most importantly, you blend good journalism with the dreams of your student readers.

As a result, you create a book that not only sells more and is liked but also is loved. n

On an academics spread, this staff included three sidebars, one on how to make Silly Putty learned in chemistry class, a series of direct quotes with photos and a science quiz. The staff also included mug shots of the students quoted in the story. The story and captions added to the depth of the spread. From the 2002 Ceniad East Lansing (Mich.)

High School, Nick Mrozowski and Laurie Stein, editors; Lynn Strause, adviser.

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SPRING 2004

Examples of topical coverage MUNSTER HIGH SCHOOL PARAGON 2000, MUNSTER, IND. The book’s theme is “UN,” and divisions are unusual: Academics are combined with student life as “Unconventional” while clubs are grouped with sports as “Unparalleled.” Academics were subdivided into before-, during- and afterschool topics. Club group photos are stacked along the edges of the spreads, about five per spread, with captions, brief listings of officers and a fact about each club’s achievements.

Academic topics: • “Fighting through the yawns” — zero hour • “Beating the clock” — being pressed for time • “Hard to handle” — overcoming fears • “Raised to the next power” — honors courses • “Breaking down the day” — breaks during the school day • “Brushing up the interest” — electives • “Soaking up new ideas” — unconventional classroom projects • “Laid back learning” — educational games

SPRING 2004

• “Help on the Internet” — unconventional study habits Club topics: • “A bonding experience” — teamwork • “Practice makes perfect” — practices and rehearsals • “Rising to the top” — competitions • “Sweet smell of success” — fund raising • “They’d walk a mile” — service • “Sticking together” — social • “Taking a new angle” — learning skills • “A sound effort” — behind the scenes • “Marching to their own drummer” — clubs’ “big events” (Note: the events included performances, which was expected, but also newspaper issue delivery, which was unexpected.)

NEW PALESTINE AVALON 2001, NEW PALESTINE, IND. The book used topical coverage with academics and placed two columns of teacher mugs in alphabetical order on the left side of each spread. The spreads also featured a wide variety of coverage: first-person stories, infographics, surveys, quote boxes, etc.

Topics: • Boredom • Lockers and book bags • Homework • Cheating in class and relationships • New classes • Bonds with teachers PARKERSBURG PARHISCHAN 2000, PARKERSBURG, W.VA. The book filled a foldout section in the middle of the organization section with the group photos and captions. For academics, the coverage was divided into seven periods in the day, with a mix of photos of classes being offered during each period.

Club topics: • “Destination unknown” — trips • “Win or lose” — competitions • “Funds needed” — fund raising • “Not so useless” — tie-ins with academics • “Lending a hand” — service • “Art to wear” — T-shirts

COMMUNICATION: JOURNALISM EDUCATION TODAY • 33