• What is the boy-to-girl ratio?
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.
• How will you involve uninvolved students?
Methodology: Section teams meet with section editors to plan the section and to use bubble sheets to brainstorm coverage on each assigned spread.
Coverageyearbook.
Understanding your audience Following are questions to consider about your audience when planning yearbook coverage:
• Which ethnic groups are represented at the school?
• How many students are in each class?
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
• How will you represent each group fairly?
• Who has traditionally been in the yearbook?
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 3.coverage.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.
• How will you keep track of all the people you have covered?
Resources: Content and coverage slideshow: http://online.fliphtml5.com/traa/binu/index.html Building the ladder: http://online.fliphtml5.com/traa/sbjr/index.html Content and
• Who has purchased the yearbook?
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.Heritage Middle School • Deltona, FL
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 IndexAdpages That becomes your working number.
If a school is celebrating a special anniversary, the staff could add a section featuring the school’s history.
• 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.Aschool with 65 percent of the students involved in athletics would need to increase Follow this formula
Take the working number times .25. That will be the approximate number of pages for student life and Takepeople.the working number times .15. That will be the approximate number of pages for academics, organizations and sports. coverage in the sports section. Schools emphasizing academic awards and honors might add pages to that section.
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)
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.Everystaff needs a plan to determine the number of pages for each section. These calculations should not include the number of
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.
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 neededPine Forest High School • Pine Forest, AR Coverage • 2 Content and
Yearbook sections pages used for theme, ads and index pages. Many books follow this tested formula:
Plan your book around your students’ interests and special events occurring that year.
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.
What goes into each section?
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.
Academics
• What new courses have been offered this •year?What are the core classes and electives?
• Focus on the student life of the classroom.
East Coweta High School • Sharpsburg, GA Academics • Scholarships and faculty Student life • Winter activities Coverage • 3 Content and
• How could you group the Academics section with spreads focused on presentations, labs, hands-on activities, study groups, field trips and performances?
• Current
Academics is the most important section of the book, because education is the purpose of school. Consider academics to be the student life of theTheclassroom.academics section does not have to be organized by department or class, but should represent the entire curriculum.
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 events that shape students’ world locally, nationally or worldwide topics may include friendship and dating, volunteerism and diversity
The Student Life frequently opens the book. It is the most flexible, usually the most interesting and the most fun to design.
•
•
• Other
Consider these questions:
• How are different class levels going to be arranged? (Honors, AP, Special Education)
Student life
• Describe what it was like to get across the goal line or to make the winning free throw.
• Should have a group shot, as well as a season scoreboard, for each team.
• Covers the highs and lows of each season.
• Tell the story of the only game a team won or lost, or the dramatic moments in close games with rivals.
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.
Will varsity teams have their own spread?
• Can be laid out chronologically by the school calendar.
Will JV boys and girls be grouped together?
Sports coverage:
Section content
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.
• Plan to cover sports fans, managers and trainers.
• Look for a record-breaking feat – whether offensive or defensive – one fans talked about for days.
Sports
• Determine how you will cover JV and varsity teams. Will they be grouped together?
• Profile players who exceeded expectations.
East Coweta High School • Sharpsburg, GA Sports • Girls’ Volleyball Sports • Boys’ Lacrosse Coverage • 4 Content and
Clubs and organizations
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
• 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?
•
•
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.
•
•
Section content
• 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
• Will you devote one page or spread per organization?
•
East Coweta High School • Sharpsburg, GA Choctaw Middle School • Chooctaw, OK Clubs/organizations supplemental section • Group shots add visual variety to index Organizations • Colorguard and Winter Guard Coverage • 5 Content and
• Will you put small group shots in the index, and place copy and photos that go with the spread next to each organization?
Group photo considerations:
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 section.
The Secondary coverage modules 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: Syracuse Schools • Syracuse, KS Blended topics • Modules include cold-weather coping strategies, talented students and academics Academics • Secondary modules cover a variety of subjects in the school’s curriculum Coverage • 6 Content and
the
• 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.
• 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 Ladder planning and
• The ladder shows all facing pages in the book. Use it to plan the topics for your pages as double-page spreads.
Coveragepages. • 7
Using the ladder diagram
• Electronic version on the Lifetouch Online Yearbooks website Sample signature within the ladder diagram
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).
• The ladder is shaded to show which pages are on each side of the flat and where the natural spreads are located.
• First, place the opening spread, division pages and closing spread on the ladder.
A ladder diagram is a chart that helps the adviser and staff plan the subject and location of each yearbook page.
• Even pages will always be on the left side.
• Page one, the title page, falls on the right, as do all odd-numbered pages.
Once you’ve created the ladder on paper, transfer it to the electronic ladder in the online program. Ladder Signaturesdiagramandflats
• 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.
•Lifetouch:Laminated poster to hang on the wall
Reading the ladder diagram
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
• Any new events, sports or groups added?
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.
4. Add the pages needed for sports.
• Which sports will be paired on double- page spreads?
GAAtlanta,•SchoolHighDouglass
Sports: Academics:24 Organizations:22 22 People: 38 Pages Remaining: 8 to use where needed
• Mark color pages on the ladder diagram to avoid extra charges.
• How many portraits will you put on each page? • How are you handling the faculty?
• Complete signatures as early as possible. When signatures are finished, they are printed promptly. 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.
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.
• How will you include varsity, junior varsity and/or freshmen for each sport?
7. Calculate the number of pages for each section and make sure your coverage is fair and balanced.
Example:Pagesin yearbook: 200 Theme pages: 16 Ads: StudentIndex:248 Life: 38 8. Compare with last year’s book. Did you forget 9.anything?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?
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?
3. Calculate the number of pages needed for the people section.
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. of contents Coverage • 8 Ladder planning and
• 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.
Table
• How large will senior portraits be?
• 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?
• How many students are in each grade?
To
Plug
Whether school. plan the content of each aspect of school, follow the plan below. each idea into a bubble sheet develop each topic into a spread. your ideas with your editors they develop the ladder diagram.
as
What to cover and how to cover it
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 •communitiesStudentswho 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
your
you choose to organize your book chronologically or traditionally, be sure you cover all events, sports, organizations, trends and interests in your
GAMcDonough,•SchoolHighGroveUnion
and
Share
• 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-scenesModesoftransportation (cars, bicycles, roller blades, skateboards, bus, feet) • Pep assemblies and other special events • Summer events and activities • Dances and preparation for those events Ideas for academics section • The “grade makers” and what they 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 Academics • Focuses on unique angle: Computer restrictions in classrooms Coverage • 9 Ideas for content and
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)Mostmemorable 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 Union Grove High School • McDonough, GA 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 Organizations • Unique angle: Seniors’ last night to perform with Colorguard Team Coverage • 10 Ideas for content and
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.
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.Itisimportant 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.
Chronological coverage
Coverage • 11 Chronological
East Coweta High School • Sharpsburg, GA
Spring pages feature baseball and other sports played at that time of year
Eagle’s Landing High School • McDonough, GA
Month-by-month
More chronological strategies
Several months at a time Some yearbook staffs group two or three months together for each section, thereby saving space with fewer divider pages.
Staffs using a calendar approach usually begin coverage in June, just after school ends and continue through the following May.
• Band competition and club activities in October on same spread Combined months introduce February/March activities Coverage • 12 Chronological
Buffalo High School •
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. Buffalo, TX
Month-by-month
Blended
Many staffs have discovered that chronological coverage helps them meet their deadlines.
El Reno High School • El Reno, OK Syracuse Schools • Syracuse, KS Weekly • Combined coverage of vocal music and tribute to veterans in week 16 Blended coverage - Celebratory moments in athletics and school spirit-building events Coverage • 13 Chronological
Some staffs prefer to cover student life, academics and organizations chronologically in one section, pulling sports and people into separate sections.
Pleasing your target audience, the students and faculty, is your number one goal.
At the beginning of the year, whether using traditional 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.
In other instances, schools with strong fine arts programs create separate sections to showcase music, art and dance programs.
Weekly 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. 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.
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.
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.
Planning exercise:
List at least 10 new ideas for stories that haven’t been covered in the past three years. Academics
Student life
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. Sports
AdviserContent/CoverageResource• page 1
List all courses your school offers.
List all sports that are a part of your school’s activities program, season by season.
List all topics that must be covered each year (prom, graduation, etc.) Brainstorm for coverage ideas for each section of the yearbook listed on this page and the following page.
List at least five new ideas for stories that haven’t been covered in the last three years.
Team names:
List all clubs and organizations that are a part of your school’s activities program.
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.
Clubs/Organizations
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.
People List all topics that must be covered each year (class rings, class officers, traditions, etc.).
Planning exercise: Team names:
AdviserContent/CoverageResource• page 2
