The Yearbook World of Scott Geesey
from Jostens Yearbooks of central/northern Pennsylvania
ARCHIVE - NOVEMBER 1, 2021
COVERING NEWS AND STUDENT REACTIONS: Future Generations Deserve to Know What People Felt
Hello! Well, here comes winter - and what will that bring during yet another disruptive year?
I'm already hearing about more schools tossing up the "No Visitors" sign. And the season's chill will mean more indoor activities - will it also mean more COVID cases and quarantines?
I've been working behind the scenes to help schools hit their goals and make yet another great yearbook this year. Frankly I'm expecting more disruptions,
Your yearbook is the timestamp of this year, unique from any other. Let's report what people felt...
I hope you caught the October episodes of my Yearbooking Report feature. Note the links in the right column here.
My guest was top national yearbook adviser Mitch Eden from Missouri. And Mitch uses the word "timestamp" to describe any yearbook.
I agree - the book should be different every year because each school year is different from any year before or after it. Yet too many schools just report the same groups and events year in and year out.
What about also reporting what students thought and how they felt during the year? Those feelings and opinions may never happen again.
That's a true timestamp of the school year. How can any staff handle that?
TRENDS OF THIS YEAR: And every year has them. What's hot or popular this year?
How to find out? Ask students! It could be something national or local. It could be movies or TV shows or entertainment. It could be new clothing styles. Or it could be not so nice trends, like the ridiculous Tik Tok challenge of damaging school bathrooms this year.
Your staffers may know these trends, but also consider schoolwide surveys and polls. Identify some topics, then give some page coverage to each topic with student reactions or examples. Spread out the coverage to add some variety to your designing.
BIG STORIES OF THE YEAR: What are people talking about this year? Certainly masks and mask mandates have been a huge story for every school this year. But what else?
Students have feelings and opinions on stories just like any adult, yet their views are often ignored. But the yearbook is primarily about THEM so why not share how they felt about things this school year? Stories that will be different next year - or let's hope so...
Again, try using surveys and polls to gauge student feelings about news and events. From that your staffers can report results but also get individual reactions to add to your coverage on pages.
It's a great way to remember these IMPORTANT topics for years to come. And it's a way to get more students in the book more times. Especially consider students who aren't active and don't have much or any coverage - let's get them included more times.
THINK LOCAL: Every single town and area everywhere is different from every other town and area. Why not report on what's unique about YOUR town and school in the yearbook?
I've mentioned this to students many times over the years: your town WILL change in the future. It's inevitable. Things that we're used to now won't be there years from now. Let's remember them in the book - student hangouts, popular places, what people did on weekends, etc.
A quick story: when I was in high school (a LONG time ago) there was a small grocery market across the street from school that was a popular student hangout. Kids were there before school, after school, weekends, all the time. it was called McLaughlin's Market.
McLaughlin's closed quite a few years ago. A succession of businesses have been in that building since then. And I don't recall any coverage of McLaughlin's in my HS yearbooks which is too bad - I remember hanging out there, buying groceries there, etc.
Take some time to list those unique local features with ties to students and find ways to report on them in the book. Again it's another way to include more students and their views in your book.
DON'T AVOID CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECTS: Again, students have opinions on these subjects just like adults do. And they might have differing opinions on some of these.
Too many yearbook advisers steer clear of these topics because of a fear of some reaction from above. What to do? Let your administration know in advance that you plan to report on them in the book with fair coverage. If students are thinking and talking about these things they deserve to be remembered for themselves and for future generations.
Please consider this coverage for your book this year. And watch/listen to the Yearbooking Report episodes for October. Our friend Mitch Eden has more great insights on this topic with examples in the video. And the podcast has a ton of thoughts and ideas on this and more for any yearbook adviser.