Photo by: Racheal Sizemore

November 9, 2018 / Coverage / Interviewing/Reporting

Searching for a story? Look to your students

Written by Marketing Staff

Updated by Walsworth Yearbooks

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.

If the ideas below aren’t enough, you can find 100 story ideas for your sports section here. A quick glance at some of the unique things yearbook staffs have done in our Coverage Spotlight series might help too.

Rites of passages

  • First kiss
  • First date
  • First traffic ticket, etc.
  • Parent booster clubs
  • Popular lingo
  • Pranks
  • Body art

New school firsts

  • First touchdown
  • First detention
  • First school lunch, etc.
  • Volunteering
  • Personalized car plates
  • Parking lot woes
  • School security
  • Teen pressures
  • Measuring up to older siblings
  • Bumper stickers
  • Passing time activities

Alternative sports

  • Ultimate frisbee
  • Paintball
  • Skateboarding

Other ideas

  • Friday nights
  • Church youth groups
  • How students learn
  • Holiday traditions
  • Staying motivated while being second team (sitting on the bench)
  • Personalizing lockers
  • Student web pages
  • Super heroes
  • Over-extended students
  • Faculty quirks
  • What people collect
  • Grandparents
  • Field trips
  • Weighted grades
  • Riding the bus
  • Jobs
  • Inhibitions
  • Lost and found
  • Student car culture
  • Tardy/absence excuses
  • Behind the scenes at football games
  • Children in parent’s class
  • Cost of playing sports
  • Biggest fears
  • Favorite expressions
  • Raising funds
  • What makes a leader
  • When teachers went to high school
  • Riding the fan bus
  • Driver’s education
  • What makes a good teacher
  • Moms in the stands
  • ACT/SAT testing
  • Choosing a college
  • Sports injuries
  • First day of school
  • Game day superstitions
  • Cartoons students watch

11 Responses to “Searching for a story? Look to your students”

May 24, 2010 at 5:25 am, Gabrielle said:

very interesting ideas

May 12, 2011 at 8:47 am, Maddy said:

You should definitely give a full scenario and more detail

May 24, 2012 at 2:58 pm, sydney said:

u need to add more not just idea more scenerio

November 18, 2012 at 8:03 pm, sofie said:

this really needs more detail and description! like add on to the ideas not just like an idea and thats it!

January 27, 2013 at 8:59 pm, Scarlet said:

Where has all the creativity gone?

April 16, 2013 at 5:49 am, Sakio said:

I enjoy gathering utile information , this post has got me even more info! .

August 17, 2013 at 3:06 am, Timmy said:

I understand that everyone is asking for more detail and scenarios. But what you all must understand is that these are just some of the possible ideas that you could cover at your school. Some may not even apply to you. What you need to do is take some of these and re-invent them in a way that applies directly to your school. You don’t necessarily have to follow the ideas given. You can use them as a rough draft and build from there. As a journalism student, its up to us to create a scenario and figure out the exact ways that we wish to present them to the public.

November 26, 2013 at 11:47 am, Laeken said:

Well, the reason the people below need more detail is because they’re dumb and don’t know how to come up with stuff of their own. DUH! Those are just a list of things you can make your story about. Why the heck do y’all need a scenario? To copy it or something?

Comments are closed.

Marketing Staff

Marketing Staff reports are posts compiled by the Walsworth Yearbooks Marketing Department, covering a wide range of yearbook topics.