National Yearbook Week is coming up October 1 – 7, 2023! Proclaimed in 1987 by then-President Ronald Reagan, it was declared to recognize the importance of preserving memories and school tradition. It’s a time to honour school yearbook programs and the students who work hard to compile all the year’s memories into a lasting, printed record. So, let’s celebrate!
Celebrate the Heroes
There are a lot of people who work hard to bring the yearbook to life. Celebrate your school’s heroes by:
- Making banners to post on the doors of teachers and advisors to say thank you
- Hosting a pizza lunch for your yearbook team
- Put a sign on the lockers of your yearbook students with their unique and special contributions…you know they’ll post it on social media and when they do, even more people will read about the difference your student makes
- Host an open house and invite administrators, parents and members of the community to the yearbook room to see firsthand how the yearbook is produced
Celebrate the Product
Create a Behind the Yearbook series and showcase the story behind past years’ themes or a yearbook staff member’s journey. Other fun ways to celebrate the product include:
- Have school staff members show off their own high school yearbook photos
- Create a memory wall to highlight important events like winning the State Championship or famous alumni from past yearbooks
- Put up a display of yearbooks from the past to see how it has evolved
Celebrate Growth
Take a moment to reflect on how far your yearbook program has come, or how the yearbook has come along so far. When you’re caught up in all the day-to-day work, it’s hard to see how far you’ve come!
Build Excitement
It’s not just the yearbook team who are excited about what they are creating…or at least it shouldn’t be! Get the rest of the school hyped to buy their yearbook by submitting details to be added to the morning announcements. Other ways to get people excited include:
- Hold a photo contest for students to submit their own photos for the yearbook
- Set up a photo wall, complete with props, in a common area of the school and let students take selfies of themselves and their friends
- Print and post photos that will be in the yearbook around the school
- Create a Facebook or Instagram account and invite all of your friends, then post updates, fun behind-the-scenes activities and more as the year progresses
Build on the Momentum
Take some time to propel your team forward. Work together to identify what’s going well and why. Check your progress towards your goals for the year and ask what’s working, what needs improvement, do any goals need refining, and how will you celebrate reaching certain goals?
However you celebrate National Yearbook Week, Friesens wants to celebrate with you! Post a picture of your team on social media taking part in a National Yearbook Week initiative and share it with us by tagging @friesensyearbook and #FriesensYearbookWeek. Your team will have a chance to win a Party in a Basket, including a JBL Bluetoooth speaker and a pizza lunch on us!
