The first few weeks of school set the tone for your entire yearbook season. Between organizing coverage, book sales and training staffers, advisers have a lot on their plates. The good news? Whether you’re a first-time adviser or a pro, Walsworth’s resources will help get the school year started right.
Walsworth offers a variety of Training Videos, lesson plans, activities, handouts and planning tools designed to help advisers and staffs hit the ground running. For Walsworth customers, the Yearbook Help website is newly designed and easier than ever to find everything you need.
Here are 10 resources to help create a smoother yearbook kickoff this school year.
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Meet your Walsworth Support Team
This is the number one resource for a reason. Your sales and customer service representatives can help year round and they are just a call or email away. Meet with them as soon as possible for start of year planning.
In this meeting you can discuss deadlines, page count, sales goals, how to market your book, sell ads and any other classroom needs. Your rep can help you identify resources, answer questions and connect you with training opportunities that fit your staff’s experience level.
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The First 60 Days
Yearbook is unlike any other class; the curriculum and workload distribute differently because at the end of the day, you create a product. The First 60 Days provides a day-by-day breakdown of what advisers and staffs should focus on during the critical first weeks of the school year. The First 60 Days provides resources for staff organization, theme development, coverage planning, interviewing, copywriting and technology training.
New advisers will find this especially valuable to create a logical sequence to teach the foundations.
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Explore Your Planning Kit
Chalk full of valuable resources and fun, your 2027 Yearbook Planning Kit should already be delivered to your school. Don’t let it sit in a corner. Sit down with your editors, and spend time exploring everything inside.
Decorate your room with classroom posters on theme, photography, editing, sales and more. Get the word out to the school about yearbook sales with posters and flyers to hang around your school – this year the planning kit includes sales posters in both English and Spanish. Train your staff and plan your book with the manuals and catalogs. Then go crazy with the stickers and QR codes to personalize the yearbook marketing and planning experience.
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Start with Team Building
Strong yearbooks begin with strong staffs.
The first few days of class should focus on helping students get to know each other and learn how to work together. Team-building activities help students develop trust, communication skills and a sense of shared ownership in the yearbook.
Walsworth’s Staff Management Through Teambuilding Yearbook Suite curriculum unit provides structured activities that go beyond icebreakers. These exercises help students identify strengths, build a staff structure, understand roles and begin developing collaborative habits.
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Develop Your Theme Early
If you haven’t already, now is the time to start building your yearbook theme. The theme sets the tone for all the coverage in the book, so the earlier you have the ideas locked down, the better.
Before students begin designing pages, spend time helping them explore what story they want to tell about the school year. Resources such as the Be Theme Rich in 2027 training video and the newly remastered Finding Your Theme Yearbook Suite curriculum unit can guide staffs through brainstorming, evaluating ideas and building a theme that extends throughout the entire book.
The earlier your staff establishes a strong theme, the easier it becomes to make consistent decisions about design, writing and coverage throughout the year.
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Build Your Ladder and Coverage Plan
Once you know what story you want to tell through your theme, you need to decide how you will tell that story – traditional, chronological or umbrella coverage. Think about what you’ve done in the past, your staff’s experience level and watch this training video for examples and inspiration from the 2025 President’s Collection books.
Now think about which sports, clubs and student activities you will cover and when. Creating a ladder early is essential because it helps staffs understand what stories they need to tell and where those stories will appear in the book. It also helps prevent duplicate coverage and identifies gaps before they become larger issues. Use this Timely Tips lesson plan to get the whole staff involved in the ladder brainstorming process.
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Review Last Year’s Book
Before creating this year’s yearbook, take time to study last year’s. For new staffers, this may the first time they see your yearbook up close.
Use this Timely Tips lesson plan to review coverage, design choices and writing with your students. Identify strengths worth repeating and areas that need improvement. Reflection activities help students take ownership of the publication while establishing measurable objectives.
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Set Up Your School Store
Back-to-school kicks off yearbook sales season. The sooner you set up your online school store, the sooner families can begin purchasing yearbooks and ads.
Work with your sales representative to align your book’s price to its value, goals for book or ad sales and add-ons parents and students will love. Did you know school store got a complete refresh just last year? If you haven’t turned on the new signing-day packages, you could miss out on sales. Learn more in this blog.
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Create a Marketing Plan
Marketing your book is just as important as making it. Plan ahead to avoid last minute sales stress. Consider assigning a student marketing manager early in the year. Giving one student ownership of yearbook promotion creates consistency and helps ensure marketing efforts stay active all year long.
If your marketing needs a refresh, review the Pick 6 Menu for proven strategies that help staffs select the promotional tactics that best fit their school community.
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Enroll in PEP
If you only implement one sales resource this fall, make it PEP.
The Parent Email Program automatically sends yearbook sales reminders to families for a smooth purchasing experience. While in-school and social media marketing will reach students, parents also need to see sales reminders. PEP allows schools to reach parents consistently.
Start Strong, Finish Strong
From The First 60 Days and team-building activities to theme development, marketing support and PEP, Walsworth offers tools designed to help advisers simplify the yearbook process and set students up for success.
The school year moves quickly. By taking advantage of these resources now, you’ll create a stronger foundation, reduce stress and give your staff the confidence they need to produce a great yearbook.
Also keep your eyes peeled for new Walsworth tech releases and the fall 2026 Idea File Magazine for more inspiration and learning opportunities.
