Are you wondering how you’re going to fill your yearbook pages during this crazy pandemic? What can you put on all the spreads that normally would be filled with hundreds of school events and activities? It’s easy. Tell the stories of the people in your school community with individual profiles. All you need to do is connect with your students,
The process of covering one year of the high school experience is the most challenging and rewarding part of the yearbook creation process. Before the new school year even begins, the editors and staff must determine what they think will be the most crucial events, groups, sports, clubs and people that need to be covered. They also must determine in
Kathy Daneman has been a publicist for more than two decades. So… what exactly does a publicist do? “What I do is work with authors to get their books covered,” she explained. “To get book reviews, to get interviews, to place original essays, to get them on tv, to get radio interviews, to go on tour. And I help them
Social media holds enormous potential for yearbook staffs. It no longer needs to be relegated to the “Oh, yeah! I guess I could do that” category. With everyone spending more time online than ever before, social media is a channel for getting information in front of an audience. Whether you use it as a news platform, selling tool or a
Plenty of Americans grow up watching pro wrestling. Only a small percentage grow up to cover the pro wrestling world as journalists. An even smaller number of those pro wrestling journalists are female. We’d venture to guess that Kari Williams is one of the only female, pro wrestling freelancers who started covering the circuit while in high school. Williams sat
Jai Tanner’s yearbook career spans 21 years and three different states – and that’s not even counting her high school yearbook experience. She spent the first three quarters of her career in Texas and New Mexico. Her yearbook staff at Franklin High School in El Paso, Texas, was no stranger to Crowns and Pacemakers. Her move from the Southwest to
Are your readers actually reading your yearbook? In many cases, the answer is “no,” and with good reason.
Most yearbooks are not written to be read. Yearbook copy tends to be a collection of non-compelling facts put together too lazily and too hastily, without regard for the reader. While that is a harsh indictment, it is often true and it is nothing new.
Hey, you worked hard on the yearbook — wouldn’t it be nice if people read it? Instead of dull and lifeless facts, stories should be a collection of interesting people caught in defining moments — moments that reveal character and personality.
Taking part in yearbooks or scholastic journalism doesn’t always translate to a career in journalism. For Jennifer Ward, it did… at first. She had an impressive news career, with positions at the Dallas Morning News Online and the Fresno Bee. Eventually, she decided to follow her heart and opened a store dedicated to tabletop games, the Crazy Squirrel Game Store
Trying to come up with an interesting idea for a yearbook feature story? Sometimes it can be difficult coming up with a unique angle, but the fact that you’re trying means you’re on the right track! “A yearbook shouldn’t be full of topics,” according to Brady Smekens, former adviser of the Deka yearbook staff at Huntington North High School, Huntington, Indiana. “Rather, it should tell the story of students. In the process, the topics get covered.” The list of story ideas on this page will help editors start brainstorming for coverage unique to their school and the current year.
We’re excited to introduce Behind the Byline, a new show from the Walsworth Yearbooks Podcast Network (WYPN). Hosted by Evan Blackwell, CJE, Jenica Hallman and Sarah Scott, Behind the Byline explores the possibilities opened up by scholastic journalism. All three hosts have a background in high school and/or college publications. In each episode, they interview a guest with a scholastic
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