The Yearbook Blog

Did you know that Herff Jones has more award-winning yearbooks every year than any other printer? Obviously, we’re quite proud of that fact because we feel we have something to do with the highest quality printing. But an often-over looked factor is the leadership of the adviser running the program. Long hours, giving up summer for camps, and taking critiques to heart are just a few of the things that award winning advisers do to bring fame and glory to their yearbook programs.

Each year, JEA awards the “Yearbook Adviser of the Year” to one amazing teacher and special recognition to seven others. This year SIX Herff Jones advisers will be recognized in April at the JEA/NSPA Portland convention at the Saturday adviser luncheon.

DISTINGUISHED ADVISERS
Carrie Faust, MJE, Smoky Hill High School, Aurora, Colo…
Tim Morley, Inland Lake High School, Indian River, Mich
Nancy Y. Smith, MJE, Lafayette High School, Wildwood, Mo

SPECIAL RECOGNITION ADVISERS
Charla Harris, Pleasant Grove High School, Texarkana, Texas
Pat Hinman, Robinson Middle School, Fairfax, Va
Chad Rummel, CJE, Oakton High School, Vienna, Va

Meanwhile, congratulations go out to our Northern California Herff Jones books who were named as CSPA Crown finalists. Over 1,500 publications were sent in for judging and only 56 yearbooks were selected as finalists. The gold and silver crowns will be awarded at the CSPA convention in New York this March. We are so proud of:

Lion’s Den, Hyde Middle School, Cupertino

The Patriot, Harvest Park Middle School, Pleasanton

Rampages, Casa Roble High School, Orangevale

Titanium, Antelope Valley High School, Antelope

While your first set of judges will be the student body, there’s another set out there waiting to critique your book and bestow awards. Send in your book as soon as you receive and you should get the critique back in time to put the ideas to use:

• Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) sponsors the Gold and Silver Crown awards
• National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) sponsors the Pacemaker award (older than the heart version)
• American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA) sponsors their own ASPA awards

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “J” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

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.

OK, I’ll admit that just a month ago I thought Twitter was merely a descriptor for bird calls and rambling discourse. But, some very tech-savvy students I work with schooled me on this social network that is, as one  of them described it, “Facebook on steroids.”  Now, not only do I tweet from my computer and my Blackberry, but I often use Hootlets to help post information. And it all became legit for me when  JEA recently posted an article on its Digital Media Resources site, discussing the value of Twitter as a valuable communication tool for schools and publications. 

Since the premise of Twitter is that people what to know the answer to the question, “What are you doing,” in 140 words or less, the JEA article discusses the value of using the site to “tell your school community exactly what they want to know: The final score of the game, who was just crowned Homecoming Queen, it’s a snow day. . .etc.” It can also be embedded on a school or staff’s website or Facebook site, thus making information gathering as easy as opening your homepage. 

So, I say, join JEA, The Yearbook Ladies, and even Steve Jobs. Tweet away!

Read the JEA article: http://jeadigitalmedia.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44:twitter&catid=18:social-networking&Itemid=76

To become a tweeter:Twitter: What are you doing?