Help can come from unlikely sources. After Hurricane Katrina struck
the Gulf Coast Aug. 29, small, rural Hammon High School in Hammon, Okla., was able to donate two computers and a 35mm camera to Grace King High School in Metairie, La., which usually has about 1,500 students.
Theme
The new editor could visualize it: a pink and purple yearbook cover with a castle and the words, “Once Upon a Time….”
Each year, advisers and staffs work to develop a theme to unify their yearbook and make it a reflection of the school and students during that particular year. This is one of the most daunting tasks of the entire production process. Themes do not magically appear. It takes thought and hard work. And theme development itself has a process.
Your staff has successfully created a theme, and now they must interpret it on the cover for everyone to see. Luckily, help is available for advisers and staff to get their cover finalized and into production.
“Do you think anyone will get bored with the repeating pictures?” Liz asked me as she was finishing the last division page. “Maybe we should have used different ones.”
The Wings yearbook staff at Arrowhead Christian Academy, Redlands, Calif., does not like to select a theme that capsulizes the school year because they believe that kind of a theme can only be done so many times before it becomes difficult to develop it meaningfully. Instead, they work to pick a theme that could reflect the school year, but one where its focus will allow the staff to give the book a personality.
A private space, comfortable couches, lots of food, idea lists, and open minds are required. It is not a time for the timid. By the end of the session, the individuals involved will have become a team. Love it or hate it, all will have committed to the common purpose of creating a book centered around the chosen theme.
Embark. Embark. Now there is a theme word for you. Every yearbook in eras past has featured threshold-crossing, challenge-facing, embarking students in some form or another.
Armed with a list of unique happenings at their school next year and fortified with lots of Chinese food, the Indian’s editorial staff, along with a few writers and photographers, gathered in a dorm room at a summer yearbook workshop to brainstorm a theme.
For decades, yearbook advisers have been pulling their hair out trying to lead staffs in the appropriate direction when it comes to deciding on and developing a theme. The introductory brainstorming questions are ones experienced advisers have permanently etched in their brain.
