we want to make you yearbook experts

Learn the yearbook lingo. We will focus on interviewing skills, talking to strangers, and finding out their story. We will learn the basics of a yearbook spread, and discover how you will be a vital member of your yearbook team.

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When your audience flips the page, you want them to stop to look. The best way to do that is by designing a road map for the reader. Using scale and hierarchy, they’ll know which photo and headline to look at first, second and third. Your design elements will help navigate them around the spread to take in every single detail.

There is no reason to start designing with an empty spread template when there is professional inspiration all around us. From headlines to mods to type and photo packaging, we will look to the professionals and then use that inspiration to put together trend-following spreads. In this class, you will learn the skills to create an exciting library of elements with which to build your 2024 yearbook.

Verbal and visual consistency is key to making your book’s voice clear and to helping your staff create great designs. In this track, learn how to effectively use the visuals of typography, design elements and a style guide to bring it all together.

Stories are both verbal and visual. We will take a hands-on approach to create a spread, from the words to the design. We will start with a topic and discover what the story is through interviewing. Then we’ll maximize the coverage as we design the spread, from the dominant photo package to the modules. We will go beyond the obvious and create a cohesive spread that tells the whole story.

Sometimes it’s hard to decide how to tell the right story with the main copy of your yearbook spread. In this course we will discuss strategies on how to write impactful stories. Along the way, we will discover ways to not only find the story, but also pointers on how to tell the story in more creative ways.

There is not just one way to tell a story. Mods provide a varied approach to packaging photos and words, headshots and quotes. Now is when you make a plan to deliver mod coverage that gives readers something new and interesting on every spread in your book.

Your school’s story begins with the words. Opening copy sets the tone and style of the entire yearbook. We’ll spend time finding the right voice for your opening and explore writing tools to develop your voice. That voice will help you write better copy throughout the book.

One of the most important roles of any staff photographer is knowing how to cover a school activity. Learn where to stand, how to see and what to shoot at your school’s events as you capture storytelling photos and create photo stories that result in complete coverage for the yearbook spread.

From visual-verbal connections in your thematic content to finding and making photographic inspiration your own to using off-camera flash and studio-style photography, now is the time to learn how to establish a consistent, unifying photographic voice for your yearbook.

Editors need to be brave and courageous leaders that create a space where everyone flourishes. People crave purpose, meaning, connection and gratitude. We will cover how leaders can provide for these needs while managing deadlines and providing useful feedback.

Okay. So we can’t actually predict the future, but we can plan for all possible outcomes if we start now. This track will help you look at the year ahead in ways you never have before. You’ll take your theme and brainstorm story ideas unique not only to the upcoming school year, but also to your theme. You’ll create a ladder with multiple layers of coverage, and maybe even try a new method of organization. Umbrella? Chronological? Traditional? Hybrid? The sky’s the limit.

As advisers, our role is to help our students build the skills necessary to tell the story of the school year while empowering them to make the book their own. In our time together at camp we will work through how to put systems in place for staff training, managing workflow, and accountability to help make sure that students can successfully take on this important work.