The Yearbook Blog

On Tuesday July 20 at 11pm EDT/PT, MTV will premiere a new weekly series called “If You Really Knew Me” based on the Challenge Day program.  Each episode will be shown on MTV multiple times during the week and streamed on MTV’s website.

“‘If You Really Knew Me’ is an incredibly authentic and compelling docu-series that takes us on a 24 hour journey through a high school’s social transformation. It shows us what happens when kids from various cliques decide to break down the walls that divide them and commit to change,” said Tony DiSanto, President of Programming from MTV. “It’s an intense and dramatic experience, but ultimately uplifting and universally relatable for all of us who have gone through high school or are about to.”

Each episode takes place at a different high school with its own set of issues and its own unique set of cliques. In the series premiere, viewers go inside a Northern California school divided by race and cliques, a symptom of a newly-diverse student body that has grown from 500 to 2,400 students in just 10 years. As the season progresses; the show profiles a variety of schools struggling with everything from cyberbullying to small town rumor mills.

Discussion Guides (sponsored by Herff Jones) can be downloaded from the Challenge Day website at: http://www.challengeday.org/mtv/. 

What’s this got to do with yearbooks?

1. We all know that yearbook sales are directly related to school spirit. If your school is not participating in Challenge Day, maybe Yearbook could sponsor it! Visit the Challenge Day website for more info: http://www.challengeday.org/how-challenge-day-works.php
2. Teambuilding is key to an efficient yearbook staff. Try watching the episodes together as a group, and downloading the discussion guides. Download the discussion guides here: http://www.challengeday.org/mtv/
3. If your school is already participating, don’t forget to cover it in your yearbook! Make sure to interview the participants for their point-of-view!

Angela’s side note: I participated in a Challenge Day as a high school student (A LONG TIME AGO), and it was definitely worth it. Let’s just say a lot of tears and hugging were involved. I highly recommend it!

Congratulations to the following school for being NSPA Pacemaker Finalists! All schools on the lists will be recognized at the Spring National High School Journalism Convention in Portland, April 15-18, and the announcement of the Pacemaker-winning books will be made at the Saturday afternoon awards ceremony there.

Eye, Evergreen Valley HS, San Jose, Calif. -- Binh Ngo, Nhat Vo, editors -- Jan Gliozzo, adviser

A very special round of applause to Evergreen Valley H.S. in San Jose, CA (one of The Yearbook Ladies’ own)!!!!!! WooHoo!!!

(Psssst! We couldn’t help but notice that 28 of these books are printed by Herff Jones. For those of you counting, that’s twice as many as any other yearbook company, and even any other two yearbook companies combined!)

**These schools are also on the CSPA Crown List. Wow!!!

HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOKS

Hornet, Bryant HS, Bryant, Ark.

**Titanium, Antelope HS, Antelope, Calif.

Ceralbus, Burbank HS, Burbank, Calif.

The Valkyrie, Pleasant Valley HS, Chico, Calif.

Hoofprint, San Dieguito Academy, Encinitas, Calif.

Decamhian, Del Campo HS, Fair Oaks, Calif.

Wingspan, James C. Enochs HS, Modesto, Calif.

Shield, Thomas Downey HS, Modesto, Calif.

**Rampages, Casa Roble HS, Orangevale, Calif.

Wings, Arrowhead Christian Academy, Redlands, Calif.

**Pilot, Redondo Union HS, Redondo Beach, Calif.

Tonitrus, Rocklin HS, Rocklin, Calif.

Details, Whitney HS, Rocklin, Calif.

Ash a Wut, Gabrielino HS, San Gabriel, Calif.

Eye, Evergreen Valley HS, San Jose, Calif.

Cayuse, Walnut HS, Walnut, Calif.

Carpe Diem, North Forsyth HS, Cumming, Ga.

Log, Columbus North HS, Columbus, Ind.

Magician, Muncie Central HS, Muncie, Ind.

Logue, NorthWood HS, Nappanee, Ind.

Indian, Shawnee Mission North HS, Overland Park, Kan.

Saga, Shawnee Mission West HS, Overland Park, Kan.

Hauberk, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.

The JAG, Mill Valley HS, Shawnee, Kan.

Lair, Shawnee Mission Northwest HS, Shawnee, Kan.

Crimson, duPont Manual HS, Louisville, Ky.

Fentonian, Fenton HS, Fenton, Mich.

Ebb Tide, Carlson HS, Gibraltar, Mich.

Roundup, Great Falls HS, Great Falls, Mont.

Skjold, Corning Painted Post West HS, Painted Post, N.Y.

**Westwind, West Henderson HS, Hendersonville, N.C.

Governor, John B. Connally HS, Austin, Texas

El Paisano, Westlake HS, Austin, Texas

Marksmen, St. Mark’s School of Texas, Dallas, Texas

Pride, Franklin HS, El Paso, Texas

Triune, Trinity HS, Euless, Texas

Bobcat, Hallsville HS, Hallsville, Texas

Leopard, Lovejoy HS, Lucas, Texas

The Arena, Legacy HS, Mansfield, Texas

The Bronco, McKinney Boyd HS, McKinney, Texas

The Lion, McKinney HS, McKinney, Texas

Reflections, McKinney North HS, McKinney, Texas

SHS Yearbook, Saginaw HS, Saginaw, Texas

**The Hawk, Pleasant Grove HS, Texarkana, Texas

**Crag, Turner Ashby HS, Bridgewater, Va.

Odyssey, Chantilly HS, Chantilly, Va.

Eyrie, Osbourn HS, Manassas, Va.

**The Clan, McLean HS, McLean, Va.

Saga, Loudoun Valley HS, Purcellville, Va.

North Star, Northside HS, Roanoke, Va.

**Laconian, Salem HS, Salem, Va.

The Edge, Glacier Peak HS, Snohomish, Wash.

JUNIOR HIGH/MIDDLE SCHOOL FINALISTS

Surfer, Coronado MS, Coronado, Calif.

LFMS Life & Style, Las Flores MS, Las Flores, Calif.

**The Patriot, Harvest Park MS, Pleasanton, Calif.

Prowler, Pioneer MS, Tustin, Calif.

The Prowl, Powell MS, Littleton, Colo.

**Sentry, Robinson MS, Fairfax, Va.

JUNIOR HIGH MIDDLE SCHOOL SPECIAL RECOGNITION

Eagle Eye View, Sierra MS, Parker, Colo.

Stingray Tales, New Smyrna Beach MS, New Smyrna Beach, Fla.

Panther Pride, Lawton Chiles MS, Oviedo, Fla.

Eagle, Maize South MS, Wichita, Kan.

Mark's dressed up as a Care Bear for the "Run Wild For a Child" 5K race, which raised money and collected toys for kids during Christmas.

When someone is wearing a button that says, “Ask me about my mustache?”, how could I resist. So, of course, I had to ask Mark Hermano–Yearbook Adviser at Mercy High School in Burlingame–about his new facial hair. It turns out it’s all for a good cause!

Mark is competing against other brave Mustache-Growers across the country to raise cash for schools in need. It’s all a part of DonorsChoose.org’s “Mustaches for Kids” campaign. You can help Mark reach his goal by donating to one his hand-picked projects by clicking here:

http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/viewChallenge.html?id=26102

To learn more about the “Mustaches for Kids” program, or to find out how you can raise money for your own classroom project, visit DonorsChoose.org.

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan declared the week of October 4 (October 5th this year) National Yearbook Week! In his proclamation, he stated,

“School yearbooks not only chronicle educational achievement and school tradition but are a part of them. For nearly two centuries American students have produced yearbooks to commemorate the accomplishments of the school year and to compose a lasting record, written and pictorial, of campus, classmates, teachers, and school staff.

In later years, alumni treasure their yearbooks for the memories they hold of times gone by and friends of long ago. The students who compile yearbooks likewise treasure all that the experience can teach them about teamwork and about writing, the graphic arts, and business skills. The practical cooperation and specialization that students learn in yearbook production stand them in good stead when they enter college or pursue other opportunities.”

He then called upon all Americans to “observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.”

So here are 5 ways you can celebrate National Yearbook Week:

1. Kick off your yearbook sales this week
2. Dig up the oldest school yearbooks you can find from your school and put them out on display.
3. Collect old yearbook photos of the staff and display them without names, so students can guess who’s who
4. Give a special discount for yearbooks bought this week and wear your staff t-shirts to spread the word
5. Have a special staff party “just because”

Whatever you do, take a moment to congratulate you and your staff for being such an integral part in creating your school’s memories!

We always knew yearbooks are better, but it’s nice to see that other people think so, too! Here’s an excerpt from the article “Luv U 4ever!” by Jay Hamburg:

High school yearbooks have survived with a very strange recipe that hasn’t changed much over the decades. That recipe starts with the idea that your school contains the brightest scholars or finest athletes. Or both. Next, it puts the grandest decrees about the future alongside the silliest sayings about study hall. Toss in some photos, a bit of verse, awful puns, local ads. Then charge a hefty fee and encourage buyers to scrawl all over their new merchandise.

It’s like working nine months to build a splendid monument in the hopes it will last forever and that people will tag it with graffiti at the unveiling.

Somehow, it works.

While newspapers and magazines struggle for breath, trying to keep up with Twitter and Facebook, one of the slowest, most static and least portable of periodicals—the lumbering yearbook—just keeps plodding along.

Granted, some colleges have dropped their yearbooks and some high school annuals are declining in popularity as electronic distractions grab attention and yearbook prices top $80. But many Central Florida high schools say their sales remain steady, even in a slow economy.

Apopka High student Shana Rhodes says she and her friends enjoy social networking sites in cyberspace, but she wanted to work on the Darter yearbook precisely because it marks their rite of passage with a tangible record.

“Twitter will go away,” says Shana, 18. “But a yearbook will never perish.”

Maybe that’s part of its ongoing appeal. Lift some of today’s 400-page volumes and you sense that those hardbound, five-pound tomes will endure even as memories fade. They’ll still be around long after hard drives crash and one technology displaces another.

You can’t use big floppy disks from the 1980s with today’s computers. But you still can open up the 1924 Echo yearbook of Orlando High School and hear the Therons, Thelmas, Ottos and Lotties issue a verdict meant to distinguish themselves forever: “It is doubtful if the fair city of Orlando will ever again witness such a brilliant, generous and all-around good class.”

You’re the best!

Nowadays the yearbook boasting tends to be more…

Click here to read the complete article at OrlandoMagazine.com.

We know all about our great Adobe Indesign Plug-ins and our eDesign online program, and now Adobe is telling the world! In an article in their Company/Customer Showcase files, Adobe details the options and benefits we offer customers in both traditional and on line submission.

So, instead of tooting our own horn, we thought we’d let Adobe do it for us! Read what they are saying about our plug-ins and eDesign:

Adobe - Customer Showcase : Adobe Success Story : Herff Jones Inc.

Share your experiences with either our plug-ins or eDesign by commenting below. We’d love to hear what you think!

I recently posted an article I found about how yearbook photos predict overall happiness in life. You can read that blog entry here.

In it, the author references a scientific study that he couldn’t find on the internet. Well, I think I found it. It’s actually a study of how smiling in their yearbook photo as a child correlated to success in their marriage as an adult. Here’s an exerpt:

“If you want to know whether your marriage will survive, look at your spouse’s yearbook photos.

Psychologists have found that how much people smile in old photographs can predict their later success in marriage.

In one test, the researchers looked at people’s college yearbook photos, and rated their smile intensity from 1 to 10. None of the people who fell within the top 10 percent of smile strength had divorced, while within the bottom 10 percent of smilers, almost one in four had had a marriage that ended, the researchers say. (Scoring was based on the stretch in two muscles: one that pulls up on the mouth, and one that creates wrinkles around the eyes.) …”

You can read the complete article written by Clara Moskowitz on msnbc.com

Kingman Academy Middle School in Kingman, AZ, figured out a way to do it. They got Guardian Air (an emergency air ambulance company) to take them up for free.

I’ve pasted an article about it below, or you can go to the Kingman Daily Miner  website to read the original post by Aaron Royster.

KAOL students take flight for yearbook photo

KINGMAN - Some of the Kingman Academy Middle School yearbook staff got a new perspective on their peers - thanks to Guardian Air.

On March 25, Guardian Air pilot Mike Mickelson took students Sarah Christiansen, Sana Khan and Bryce Todriff with respiratory therapist Pat Alred and flight nurse Jill Swape on a flight above the school. With four cameras, a few with batteries that died mid-flight, the trio took more than 50 pictures to make sure they got a shot for the yearbook in their limited trip.

“Everything turned out great and we got a good picture,” Todriff said.

The aerial shot of the students and faculty in formation for the yearbook is an annual tradition, Khan said. This year the students voted to form a coyote paw print, representing the school’s coyote mascot.

In past years, the Arizona Department of Public Safety has accommodated the yearbook editors with a helicopter trip to take photographs. Due to budget constraints, DPS notified Kingman Academy Middle School they wouldn’t be able to assist this year, Khan said.

“We were all really sad because we wanted to go up for three years,” Christiansen said.

That’s when Todriff said he had an epiphany. They could turn to Guardian Air and request the ride.

The students were briefed on safety before the stepped on the helicopter. While the flight was less than 10 minutes, the trio exuded enthusiasm about their experience.

“It was phenomenal,” Khan said.

The flight crew was friendly and joked with them, Khan said. It helped ease the tension for Khan, who found the experience way different than flying in an airplane.

It was the first time Khan and Christiansen flew in a helicopter.

“I was really scared,” Christiansen said.

Both Christiansen and Khan said they got a great view of their classmates, and a look from above of their respective houses.

As eighth-graders, it will be the last time Christiansen and Khan will get the opportunity to fly in a helicopter to take a yearbook photograph for the middle school.

For Todriff, it was his second time flying in a helicopter. He had previously flown with the Arizona Department of Public Safety on a ride-along.

“It was fun,” Todriff said.

Todriff will get a shot at a third ride next year, when the seventh-grader said he plans on working as a yearbook editor.

TheYearbookBlog would like to congratulate the following schools for receiving the 2008 Pacemaker Award. Winners were announced at the JEA/NSPA National Spring Convention in Phoenix, AZ:

For more information about these schools/books, judges comments, and a list of finalists, please visit the official NSPA website or click here.

Here is yet another example of the effect yearbooks have on people’s lives…

After Ron Bogdan, a financial manager at AnswerNet, lost his 1976 high school yearbook in a flood, he “felt an emptiness in his heart he just couldn’t describe.” As he searched for another copy, he ended up finding many other old yearbooks instead. As a result, he has now started a Yearbook “Lost & Found” service for other people searching for their old high school yearbook. To find out more about, read his story at the following link:

http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-16/123614311829960.xml&coll=5

Holly Madison and Dmitry Chaplin dance in the first episode of season eight of "Dancing With the Stars."

Okay, the celebrity is Holly Madison, star of “The Girls Next Door” and “Dancing with the Stars” and the job was “playmate editor” for Playboy Magazine, but still…

Here’s her exact quote from an interview with The Oregonian.

“I used to kind of joke around that I ended up with a job where, I learned this job in high school — everybody, when they’re in high school, goes, ‘What am I ever going to use this for?’ — but I was on the yearbook staff. We used to have to lay out the yearbook on computer, and I never would have been able to jump into that job with no training if I hadn’t been on the yearbook staff.”

Click here to read the full interview.

I know. Your first thought to this headline is, “I run my yearbook program like a real-world business. How come I’m not getting recognition?”

It’s amazing how many people still think of yearbook as a “glorified photo album”. Many administrators still believe they can just throw anyone into your yearbook class because all your doing is “taking pictures and putting them in a book. How hard is that?”

Well, kudos to the yearbook advisers at Nauset Regional High School in Massachusetts for getting their local paper “The Cape Codder” to publish a story about their yearbook program. It probably helped that a yearbook staffer, who wrote the article, is an intern at the paper. You can read the article here:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/orleans/news/education/x844655140/Making-memories-Yearbook-run-like-real-world-business

Maybe if more schools got local papers to run stories about the “behind the scenes” in yearbook production, schools and administrators will start appreciating yearbook class as a program that teaches students much more than “scrapbooking” skills.

My “google alert” on yearbook blogs brought this post to my attention. It is written by the spouse of a nationally-award-winning adviser who argues the point that video yearbooks will replace traditional books eventually. It is very well written with some very valid points. You can read the entire post yourself at this link:

http://www.interregnum.amberhorizon.com/tales/?p=63

Here is a summary of some his main points:

• Video yearbooks are free
• Video yearbooks can be easily distributed
• If you lose your video yearbook, you can easily obtain another one

Yes, all of those points are true. However, we have to look at whether a video yearbook can replace ALL of the benefits of a printed yearbook. Since I already explained my point about this in a previous post about Social Network Sites replacing yearbooks, I won’t go into detail again here. You can read the other post by clicking here.

But here are a couple of points I’d like to make in defense of the printed book vs. the video yearbook:

• Everyone in the school is in a printed yearbook. It is not just about capturing highlights of certain events (as in a video yearbook). It’s a reference tool. Printed yearbooks list every student in every grade (and club… and team…). Can you imagine them trying to do that in video format? How boring would that be?
• Video yearbooks do not allow behind the scenes coverage and commentary that printed books do (or at least well-written ones). Just like movies, video yearbooks can only capture what can be seen. That’s why I always prefer the book version over the movie version of the same book. The book always gives additional insight into the thoughts and characters of the story. A printed yearbook can do the same; although not every school takes advantage of this.
• (As the author’s wife points out in his post,) Video yearbooks cannot be autographed. And if you ask most yearbook owners after they graduate, it’s the signatures and messages that are the most sentimental.

As I said in my other post, this kind of panic seems to arrise every time new technology is introduced. See below…

This article was printed in 1930, and I’m pretty sure notebooks are still around.

MY CONCLUSION:

Video yearbooks can’t replace traditional yearbooks. They make great supplements, but they can’t replace them. However, are traditional yearbooks losing sales to video yearbooks? I have no real statistics, but I can guess that yes, they probably are. However, this is because students believe video yearbooks can replace traditional ones, and they are the consumer.

So does the yearbook industry have a problem? Yes. The solution? We need to convince students of the value of a printed yearbook. As a former English teacher, I know that this is just about as difficult as convincing them that the book is better than the movie. But if JK Rowling and Stephanie Meyer can do it, so can we! (but without filling our books with witches and vampires)

Do you have an opinion? I’d love to hear it? Leave us a comment below!

The Cullen gang in the Forks High School cafeteria

Do the words Bella, Edward, Jacob, La Push, and Forks bring chills of excitement to you? Well, Forks High School, where Bella and Edward of the “Twilight” book series met, is now offering you a chance to be a part of the official “Twilight” spread of the official “Twilight” High School! For only $2, you can vote for your favorite locations from the books/movies that will appear in the yearbook. In addition, everyone who votes will have their name printed in the book. Visit the Forks High School website for more information and to download an official entry form.

What does this mean for you?

As you brainstorm your themes for 2010, think about what your school or town famous for? How can you incorporate it into your theme? Better yet, how can you turn it into a fundraiser? Brainstorm ways to get the community involved!

And don’t forget the virtual community. Think about how many “Twilight” fans Fork High School has reached globally by placing their contest info on their school website! And don’t just stop at your school website, use social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to advertise your book and contests as well. Don’t know how? Ask your students!

TheYearbookBlog.com has gotten a makeover! It was all with you in mind! Although I’ll still be loading you up with fun and easy ways to teach yearbook, I’ll also be letting you in the latest yearbook news from all corners of the world.

Meanwhile, you’ll notice that TheYearbookLady.com is now TheYearbookLadies.com. That’s right, I’ve expanded (and I don’t just mean my waistline from all the Valentine’s goodies I’ve been munching on). I’m joining forces with 3 of the greatest yearbook nerds I know (or “Yerds” as we call them), who also happen to be my very close friends. Carla, Elizabeth, and Michele are all former yearbook advisers as well, who work with schools in the South Bay/Silicon Valley and the Monterey Peninsula.

What does it mean for you? Well, 4 times the amount of knowledge, 4 times the amount of ideas, and 4 times the amount of resources! More info will be available at www.theyearbookladies.com later this Spring. Here’s a preview…

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As always, I would love to hear your feedback. Post a comment below or email me: angela@theyearbookladies.com

ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando middle school student has raised more than $1,500 in her quest to purchase school yearbooks for her homeless classmates.

Rebekah Jenkins and her friends, all of whom are eighth-graders at Lee Middle School, have raised enough money to cover the cost of 68 students’ yearbooks. Jenkins said any extra money raised will be used to buy gift cards from Wal-Mart or Super Target for the students’ families.

Jenkins said she got the idea to help her classmates when she was ordering her yearbook.

“I was just thinking how sad it is for some of them not to have a yearbook, and how unfortunate they are not to remember everything that happened,” Jenkins told WKMG-TV.

Jenkins said she talked to her friends about the idea and they began fundraising.

Click here to read the full story.