Middle School Yearbook - Organization

Middle school is a slippery time. In our school 7th and 8th grade is middle school, so we don't get to keep our students for very long. This makes the yearbook staff a challenge. I have one year to train them and one year to really use their knowledge and talents before they leave me. Thankfully there are a few things that have made my yearbook staff highly successful and efficient. I plan to share several yearbook blogs over the next few weeks.

• Organization of the Book (today)
• Staff Selection & Set-Up
• Team Building & Management
• Advertising (Ad Sales & Student Sales)
• Grading

I am passionate about yearbook, and I keep high standards for my class. I do hope you will check back for more updates on the other topics over the next couple of weeks!

Today's topic:

 OF THE BOOK!

Quick Background: My staff is made up of 12-15 7th and 8th grade students plus one 8th grade editor. I have a 50 minute class period for yearbook that is also shared with my newspaper staff (separate staffs - same class time). The application processes is rigorous. We typically have between 30-40 applications for yearbook. The 8th grade editor must be a student who was also on staff as a 7th grader.

For our staff, we have one unifying theme for our book each year. That theme is developed through:

• Cover Design
• Yearbook Title
• Section Titles
• Image/Photo Scheme on each Page

Part of the application for editor is to develop an entire theme - complete with color schemes, cover design, yearbook titles, and section titles. The editor applicants present there theme idea to the staff in May to be voted on. The winning theme and its developer become our new editor in August.

Since we keep our current year theme under lock and key (and threaten of staff removal), I can not currently discuss the super-awesome 2016 theme currently under development (check back in May 2016 - you will NOT regret it!).  Therefore - I'm going to use our 2015 to explain our organization process.

Anatomy of a Dolphin

Our 2015 theme was Anatomy of a Dolphin because we are the dolphins! We used a sectional organization method for this yearbook. Each dolphin section was labeled with a yearbook section, and each section page referenced back to that dolphin part.

1. Mouth - Student Life
1. Who's Who, Baby Pictures, Dances, Pep Rallies, ETC
2. Brain - Academics
1. Core Subjects and Electives
3. Spine - Clubs
1. Because clubs bring the school together and add support systems for those that need it
4. Eyes - Portraits
1. We love seeing photos!
5. Fin - Sports
1. Fear the Fin!
6. Tail - Community Support
1. Ads

This theme concept and design was completed by a 7th grade student in May 2013. She guided her staff through the 2014-2015 school year to develop and complete this theme through a 100+ page yearbook! I really can not speak of how proud I am of the hard work and dedication these 11-13 year olds put into their yearbook! (More on this in the next blog about yearbook staffs!)

Each of the six dolphin parts listed above reflected a section in our yearbook. The theme was carried through section titles and dolphin photos. We also hid a small dolphin silhouette on each page then challenged students to find them all!

There are two main ways to organize a yearbook:

1. Sections
2. Chronologically

The 2015 design called for a section organization, so that is what we did. Each page fits into one of the categories. A table of contents in the front of the book directs students to section page, and each section page is a mini table of contents for that section. 

Our 2016 theme calls for a chronological organization. This year we will follow all events, sports, and happenings as they unfold through the year. Since clubs are all year long, they will have a special section in the back right before ads. All other dances, sports, portraits, ETC will be placed in the book in the order they happen through the year. 

Our 2015 yearbooks completely 

How do you organize your yearbook?