Chapter 6 Content and Coverage

Yearbook Curriculum & Adviser Guide A reference guide to train your yearbook staff

- Chapter 6 -

Content & Coverage

© 2020 Shutterfly Lifetouch LLC

Content and

Coverage

Understanding your audience

A yearbook is unique because people purchasing the book are also featured in the book. Yearbooks tell stories about your entire student body. If all students are represented, almost all students will want the to purchase the yearbook. These principles will help guide what you cover in the yearbook.

Heritage Middle School • Deltona, FL

Following are questions to consider about your audience when planning yearbook coverage: • Who has traditionally been in the yearbook?

• Who has purchased the yearbook?

• Which ethnic groups are represented at the school?

• How many students are in each class?

• What is the boy-to-girl ratio?

• How will you represent each group fairly?

• How will you involve uninvolved students?

• How will you keep track of all the people you have covered?

Once you have identified your audience, consider how you will include those people in the book.

Your yearbook audience will expect to see the big events, class portraits, sports and organizations.

You will make the book even more memorable by creatively covering students’ lives (both in school and out), trends that defined the year, and events that shape their school experience.

Students’ lives never start and end with the ringing of the school bell. Neither should a yearbook.

Remember to include selected summer activities as well as holiday experiences from the larger world beyond the school environment.

Content and

Coverage • 1

Goal: At the end of this unit, students will understand how to cover the entire story of the school year: Objectives: 1. Section editors will work with their teams to plan the content of the entire section and each double-page spread.

2. Staff members will incorporate secondary modules into their spreads to add depth to the coverage.

3. Section teams will include as many students as possible in photos and stories on each spread, checking the master list for students who have not been covered elsewhere.

Methodology: Section teams meet with section editors to plan the section and to use bubble sheets to brainstorm coverage on each assigned spread.

Evaluation: Editors will review pages with section editors.

Editors and section editors will work with teams to suggest coverage ideas and names of people to include in each portion of the book.

Resources: Content and coverage slideshow: http://online.fliphtml5.com/traa/binu/index.html Building the ladder: http://online.fliphtml5.com/traa/sbjr/index.html

Yearbook sections Traditional yearbook sections include student life, academics, sports, people, clubs and organizations, and people, as well as ads and the index.

Some schools include special sections, while others combine sections. Some yearbooks continue the people section throughout the book, or combine the organizations and academics sections because clubs are often related to classes.

Every staff needs a plan to determine the number of pages for each section. These calculations should not include the number of

pages used for theme, ads and index pages.

Many books follow this tested formula: • Student Life - 25% • People - 25% • Sports - 15% • Academics - 15% • Clubs and organizations - 15% • Additional non-theme pages - 5% - Plug in where needed Remember that these percentages are a guideline, not a hard-and-fast rule. Every school must apply this formula according to their unique situation.

A school with 65 percent of the students involved in athletics would need to increase

coverage in the sports section. Schools emphasizing academic awards and honors might add pages to that section.

A school with 70 percent of students participating in clubs and organizations could add more pages to that section and include a visual index of all group pictures with facts and details about each organization.

Schools with strong fine arts programs could consider adding an entire section to feature special performances, concerts and art shows.

If a school is celebrating a special anniversary, the staff could add a section featuring the school’s history.

Plan your book around your students’ interests and special events occurring that year.

Follow this formula Begin with the total number of pages. Subtract these pages from that number: Theme pages: Title page, parting page, opening spread, dividers and closing spread Index Ad pages That becomes your working number.

Take the working number times .25. That will be the approximate number of pages for student life and people.

Take the working number times .15. That will be the approximate number of pages for academics, organizations and sports.

Pine Forest High School • Pine Forest, AR

Content and

Coverage • 2

Take the remaining 5% of the pages and add them to sections needing more pages. Make sure your page counts end on an even number.

Example: 200 pages total: Minus 16 theme Minus 24 ads Minus 8 index = 152 pages (working number) 152 X .25 = 38 pages for student life 38 pages for people 152 X .15 = 22-24 pages for academics 22-24 pages for sports 22-24 pages for organizations 4-10 pages left to add where needed

What goes into each section?

Student life

Academics

The Student Life frequently opens the book.

It is the most flexible, usually the most interesting and the most fun to design.

The Student Life section includes: • Traditional events like summer, homecoming, spirit week, pep rallies, spring break, prom, powder puff and graduation • Trends in fashion, music, technology and entertainment • Current events that shape students’ world locally, nationally or worldwide • Other topics may include friendship and dating, volunteerism and diversity

Academics is the most important section of the book, because education is the purpose of school. Consider academics to be the student life of the classroom.

The academics section does not have to be organized by department or class, but should represent the entire curriculum.

The staff can arrange the section by identifying topics that encompass multiple academic areas, including skills, content coverage, historical time periods, labs, hands-on activities, presentations, communications, experiments, field trips and more.

Consider these questions: • What new courses have been offered this year?

• What are the core classes and electives?

• How are different class levels going to be arranged? (Honors, AP, Special Education) • How could you group the Academics section with spreads focused on presentations, labs, hands-on activities, study groups, field trips and performances?

• Focus on the student life of the classroom.

Photographically, this form of coverage allows for a variety of photos from varied academic areas, rather than a spread full of photos of students sitting at desks or at computers.

Student life • Winter activities Academics • Scholarships and faculty

East Coweta High School • Sharpsburg, GA

Content and

Coverage • 3

Section content Sports After Student Life, Sports is among the most-read sections in the book. This section shows the tensions, the competition and the dimensions of all sports.

As an adviser, encourage your staff to make gender equality a priority when creating a ladder diagram for sports. Remember to include all teams, from freshmen to varsity, managers and all coaches.

Sports coverage: • Can be laid out chronologically by the school calendar.

• Covers the highs and lows of each season.

• Should have a group shot, as well as a season scoreboard, for each team.

• Determine how you will cover JV and varsity teams. Will they be grouped together?

Will varsity teams have their own spread?

Will JV boys and girls be grouped together?

Sports • Boys’ Lacrosse

• Plan to cover sports fans, managers and trainers.

• Tell the story of the only game a team won or lost, or the dramatic moments in close games with rivals.

• Look for a record-breaking feat – whether offensive or defensive – one fans talked about for days.

• Profile players who exceeded expectations.

• Describe what it was like to get across the goal line or to make the winning free throw.

Sports • Girls’ Volleyball

East Coweta High School • Sharpsburg, GA

Content and

Coverage • 4

Section content Clubs and organizations Group photo considerations: • Will you put small group shots in the index, and place copy and photos that go with the spread next to each organization?

• Will you follow up with a “Fast Facts” section about the club that includes information about the number of students, club activities, fundraisers, officers’ names and a quote from a member?

• Will you devote one page or spread per organization?

• At the photo shoot, be sure to get names for all group members according to the row that they were sitting in before they leave.

People/portraits The people section is actually three sections in one: the seniors, the underclass and the faculty.

You may have only one divider for this section, or you may have a divider for each. Traditionally, this section features portraits in a solid panel rather than in a pattern or shape. Some senior sections are designed for larger photos, with the

students’ names and quotes under each picture.

The people section includes: • Seniors • Underclass (may be grouped in one alphabetical group or by grade) • Faculty and staff • May include stories that do not lend themselves to a lot of photos • May include alternative coverage such as surveys, profiles and quote boxes

Content and

Coverage • 5

Organizations • Colorguard and Winter Guard Clubs/organizations supplemental section • Group shots add visual variety to index

East Coweta High School • Sharpsburg, GA

Choctaw Middle School • Chooctaw, OK

Secondary coverage modules While traditional coverage includes photos, copy and captions, secondary coverage modules allow yearbook staff to tell the students’ stories in multiple ways with different angles. Modules allow the staff to cover more students who may not be on a team or in a club, as well as more topics that may not deserve an entire spread.

There’s no limit to the number of secondary modules that help yearbook staff tell stories. When possible, add a theme-related headline to tie each module either to the theme of the book or the theme of the section. The

staff may choose to design several modules to use throughout the book or design particular modules for each section.

Secondary modules include: • Featured quote with accompanying photo • Series of personality face shots with names and idents • Quote areas/personal narratives • Photo essays with captions • Scoreboards • Statistical factoids • Mini-features

• Personality profiles • Timelines/lists • How-to informational graphics • Question/answer modules • Tests/quizzes created by designer • Pie charts/bar graph informational graphics • Maps/diagrams/calendars • Step-by-step informational graphics • Numbered images with captions • Photo collections with captions • He said/she said contrasting opinions • Images linked to video stories:

Content and

Coverage • 6

Academics • Secondary modules cover a variety of subjects in the school’s curriculum Blended topics • Modules include cold-weather coping strategies, talented students and academics

Syracuse Schools • Syracuse, KS

Ladder diagram A ladder diagram is a chart that helps the adviser and staff plan the subject and location of each yearbook page.

Think of it as a master project plan and the simplest way to see what is on each spread (the two facing pages in the book).

Once you’ve created the ladder on paper, transfer it to the electronic ladder in the online program.

Signatures and flats Your book is printed in 16-page signatures with eight pages printed on one side of a large piece of paper and eight pages printed on the other side. In the diagram to the right, the pages in blue represent a flat and are printed on one side. The pages in white represent the flat printed on the other side.

Once both sides are printed, they are folded several times, Smythe-sewn together and trimmed to form a 16-page booklet.

When all signatures for the book have been printed, the signatures are glued together in correct order and bound with the cover and endsheets to form your yearbook.

Where to find the ladder The following ladder diagrams are available from Lifetouch: • Laminated poster to hang on the wall • Electronic version on the Lifetouch Online Yearbooks website

Sample signature within the ladder diagram

Ladder planning and

Coverage • 7

Reading the ladder diagram • The ladder shows all facing pages in the book. Use it to plan the topics for your pages as double-page spreads.

• Page one, the title page, falls on the right, as do all odd-numbered pages.

• Even pages will always be on the left side.

• The ladder is shaded to show which pages are on each side of the flat and where the natural spreads are located.

Using the ladder diagram • First, place the opening spread, division pages and closing spread on the ladder.

• Identify signatures containing special colors (metallic ink) or clear-coating. These must fall within 16-page signatures. Extra charges will apply for each signature containing special inks.

• Determine the number of pages for each section using the formula on page 2 of this section. Leave those pages blank until section editors have planned the spread content.

• After placing dividers, go to the end of the book and place parting page on the last page on the left side of the ladder. Working backwards, place the closing spread, then place the index, then add the ad pages.

Keys to success • All four-color pages or those with metallic ink, spot color or clear-coating must be printed on the same flat or signature to avoid incurring extra charges. If signature one is all four-color and signature two is black and white, page 16 on the left side will be printed in color, but page 17 in signature two will be printed in black and white.

• Mark color pages on the ladder diagram to avoid extra charges.

• Review your deadline dates against the school calendar to make sure that school holidays or activities are included. Schedule deadlines so they don’t interfere with holidays. Missed deadlines can affect your ship date. Talk to your Lifetouch sales pro if you need to make changes to your deadine schedule.

Step-by-step ladder planning 1. Determine the number of pages in your yearbook. Note color, black and white, and spot color, if applicable.

2. Allocate the number of pages needed for theme. Include the title page, last page, opening spread, closing spread and dividers.

3. Calculate the number of pages needed for the people section.

• How many students are in each grade?

• How many portraits will you put on each page?

• How are you handling the faculty?

• How large will senior portraits be?

4. Add the pages needed for sports.

Douglass High School • Atlanta, GA

Table of contents

• Complete signatures as early as possible.

When signatures are finished, they are printed promptly.

• How will you include varsity, junior varsity and/or freshmen for each sport?

• Which sports will be paired on double- page spreads?

• Will you include team shots and scoreboards on these pages, or will you run a visual index of teams and statistics at the end of the section or near the book’s index?

5. Estimate the number of ad and index pages required. Use last year’s book, but adjust for budget requirements if necessary.

6. Add the remaining pages to the other sections.

7. Calculate the number of pages for each section and make sure your coverage is fair and balanced.

Example: Pages in yearbook: 200 Theme pages: 16 Ads: 24 Index: 8 Student Life: 38

Sports: 24 Academics: 22 Organizations: 22 People: 38 Pages Remaining: 8 to use where needed

8. Compare with last year’s book. Did you forget anything?

9. Check with activity directors, club sponsors and the school secretary to make sure you’re covering all sports, organizations, academic areas and events.

• Any activties discontinued?

• Any new events, sports or groups added?

10. Plan your deadlines. Will you have content in time to complete deadlines on time?

11. How will you cover spring sports? Will you create a March-to-March book, including last year’s spring events in this year’s book? Will you add a spring supplement to the current book?

12. Once you’ve made these decisions and completed these tasks, finalize the ladder and set it in stone. Avoid moving pages after you’ve started designing the book.

Ladder planning and

Coverage • 8

What to cover and how to cover it Whether you choose to organize your book chronologically or traditionally, be sure you cover all events, sports, organizations, trends and interests in your school.

To plan the content of each aspect of your school, follow the plan below.

Plug each idea into a bubble sheet and develop each topic into a spread.

Share your ideas with your editors as they develop the ladder diagram.

Student life coverage ideas • Students who have attended school together from pre-school to senior year • Students with unique names, names in common, longest name, shortest name

• Students’ unique interests: fixing cars, snow boarding, skiing, musicians, garage bands, entrepreneurs • Why family matters to students • Students who give back to their communities • Students who are into health and fitness • Items we personalize (cell phones, backpacks, cars, bedrooms, planners) • Finding jobs in a tough economy • Profiles of students who pride themselves on being unique or different • Getting ready for school (mornings or before the first day) • Snow days and other unexpected events • Weekend activities • Birthdays and other family celebrations

Ideas for academics section • The “grade makers” and what they

Union Grove High School • McDonough, GA

Academics • Focuses on unique angle: Computer restrictions in classrooms

• Events that celebrate different cultures (Cinco de Mayo, Kwanza, Chinese New Year) • Shopping for bargains • Fads and accessories • Spirit week activities • Homecoming focused on behind-the-scenes • Modes of transportation (cars, bicycles, roller blades, skateboards, bus, feet) • Pep assemblies and other special events • Summer events and activities • Dances and preparation for those events

give up to be successful • Team projects • Hands-on classes • Field trips • Academic competitions • Extra credit opportunities • Actors, musicians, dancers • Classes requiring experiments • Procrastinators vs. planners • Classes that build leaders • Places students study • Classes studying current events • Teachers known for unusual teaching methods • Rituals before taking tests • How students prepare for tests • Students whose parents are their teachers • How students use technology in classes • Electives: why students enroll in them • Required classes: what students learn in them • Favorite books, TV shows, movies and how they help students learn • Preparing for admission to college • Maintaining sanity in a chaotic life of academics and activities

Ideas for content and

Coverage • 9

Sports section coverage ideas • How senior players feel after playing their last home game • How young players feel before playing their first big game for the high school team • How senior players serve as mentors for younger players • Why we play sports (our motivation) • What we learn from losing • What we learn when we win • Other “off-the-field” duties • Road trips with the team • Superstitions and rituals (team and individual) • Most memorable plays • Fans and why they love the games

• The cost of playing sports (equipment, injuries) • Staying in shape off-season • Summer practices • Summer sports camps • Teaching young kids at summer sports camps • Multi-sport athletes • We knew our team bonded when...

• When Mom or Dad is your coach • How athletes plan to participate in sports after graduation • Duties of a team captain • Warm-up exercises and team drills • What it takes to be a team manager

Organizations • Unique angle: Seniors’ last night to perform with Colorguard Team

Clubs/organizations ideas • “Fun”-raisers and fund-raisers • Recruiting techniques • Motivations for joining • Field trips and out-of-town conferences • Group bonding activities • Groups’ favorite foods at meetings • Why our club is so large • How clubs help us learn skills for life • What we learn from academically based clubs • Club t-shirts and other uniforms • Clubs focused on volunteering in community • Places we visited and what we learned • Club projects • How we keep members engaged and motivated • Holiday celebrations and traditions

People/portraits section ideas • Profiles about students few people know • Kids who share their hopes and dreams • Students involved in community activities • Students who share their most memorable moments of high school • Seniors’ advice to younger students • Teachers’ most memorable moments in school • Students’ heroes and why they admire them • Favorite TV shows, phone rings, movies, events

Union Grove High School • McDonough, GA

Ideas for content and

Coverage • 10

Chronological coverage First, decide how you will organize your book chronologically. Some schools plan four sections based on seasons: summer, fall, winter, spring. Others organize sections by months. Other approaches are to organize chronological coverage week-by-week or day-by-day.

It is important to plan the entire book before school begins. Listing all clubs, events, sports and academic activities prior to planning the ladder diagram will ensure the staff covers every event and person in the school. If new clubs form or unexpected events occur, the staff will need to add those to the ladder diagram and rearrange content to accommodate the additions. Accidentally leaving out a group, event or person guarantees a bad day. Use the forms on pages 14-15 of this chapter to develop your coverage plan.

The staff may want to designate “specific looks” for student life, organizations, academics and sports pages within each chronological section of the book.

Another approach might be to design each chronological section using specific colors and type throughout the section.

Some staffs blend student life, organizations, sports and academics into one chronological section and create separate sports and people sections. Other staffs blend sports into the chronological part of the book, creating a separate people section. In a few books, staffs have blended people coverage into the entire book, reserving the lower one-third of each spread for portraits to run throughout the book.

There is no right or wrong way to plan and design a chronological book, as long as the structure makes sense to the reader.

Chronological

Coverage • 11

Spring pages feature baseball and other sports played at that time of year

East Coweta High School • Sharpsburg, GA

More chronological strategies Month-by-month Staffs using a calendar approach usually begin coverage in June, just after school ends and continue through the following May. Staffs who have a spring-delivered book begin with late March from the previous school year and end with early March for the current school year.

Several months at a time Some yearbook staffs group two or three months together for each section, thereby saving space with fewer divider pages.

Chronological

Coverage • 12

Month-by-month • Band competition and club activities in October on same spread

Combined months introduce February/March activities

Buffalo High School • Buffalo, TX

Eagle’s Landing High School • McDonough, GA

Weekly

Blended

This organizational plan often blends coverage of academics, organizations, student life and sports on the same double-page spread. The staff covers events happening each week and blends the stories together, emphasizing the “biggest” story of the week as the dominant module and featuring smaller events in secondary coverage modules.

Some staffs prefer to cover student life, academics and organizations chronologically in one section, pulling sports and people into separate sections.

Yearbook staffs using this approach find that their target audience, the students, prefer separating sports from other activities because sports play a large part in their schools’ identities.

In other instances, schools with strong fine arts programs create separate sections to showcase music, art and dance programs.

Many staffs have discovered that chronological coverage helps them meet their deadlines.

At the beginning of the year, whether using traditional

Daily Staffs creating larger books may opt for day-to-day coverage, mixing stories from traditional sections on each spread. These staffs emphasize the most “newsworthy” story in the primary focus area. Smaller events are covered in secondary coverage modules, as in weekly coverage.

Weekly • Combined coverage of vocal music and tribute to veterans in week 16

Chronological

Coverage • 13

sections, chronological or a blended approach to coverage, it is important to plan how the staff will cover every group, sport, event, activity, academic area and person in the school.

Be assured there is no right or wrong way to organize the book so long as it makes sense to the reader and contains everything that happened.

Pleasing your target audience, the students and faculty, is your number one goal.

Blended coverage - Celebratory moments in athletics and school spirit-building events

El Reno High School • El Reno, OK

Syracuse Schools • Syracuse, KS

Planning exercise:

Brainstorm for coverage ideas for each section of the yearbook listed on this page and the following page.

Team names:

Student life

Academics

Sports

List all topics that must be covered each year (prom, graduation, etc.)

List all courses your school offers.

List all sports that are a part of your school’s activities program, season by season.

List at least 10 new ideas for stories that haven’t been covered in the past three years.

Now list them according to commonalities: Classes with projects, classes that also meet after school, classes that teach teamwork or leadership, classes that develop individual talents, etc.

List at least five new ideas for stories that haven’t been covered in the last three years.

Content/Coverage Adviser Resource • page 1

Team names:

Planning exercise: Clubs/Organizations

People

List all clubs and organizations that are a part of your school’s activities program.

List all topics that must be covered each year (class rings, class officers, traditions, etc.).

Now list the clubs according to commonalities: Clubs that have members who volunteer in the community, clubs that teach leadership, clubs that focus on teamwork, clubs that meet after school, groups that hold fundraisers, etc.

List ten new ideas for stories that haven’t been covered in the last three years. Also list people who would make interesting profiles.

Community List at least 20 stories that feature students in relation to their community.

Content/Coverage Adviser Resource • page 2