After 32 years in the classroom H.L. Hall is still “alive, awake, alert, and enthusiastic.” In fact, he’s downright spunky.
It is his spunk and energy that inspire literally thousands of journalism students and advisers across the country each year. That, coupled with a sizable amount of knowledge, has also earned him the title “Mr. Yearbook” from his colleagues and those he teaches.
With the trend in yearbooks moving toward less copy, strong captions for the pictures play a more important role than ever before. Today’s captions answer the important 5Ws and H questions (Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How?) for the reader instead of a brief identification of the subject and an obvious description of the action. Captions report on behind-the-scenes information to supplement, not repeat, the body copy.
It’s time to send for the counselor!
That’s where I was two years ago. It was January and my staff still had not jelled. Not jelled? That’s putting it nicely. They were screaming at each other. Nobody liked anybody and the yearbook room on work nights was a miserable place to be.
