Five Points Elementary Creates a Yearbook that doubles as a Coloring Book

Lynn Greenberg and Kary Steele, yearbook advisors for Five Points Elementary, have envisioned a coloring-book-themed yearbook that is fun, interactive, and unlike any yearbook previously produced by Entourage. Lynn said she could not “have done a book like this without Entourage.” She explained that this innovative project was possible because the duo utilized Entourage’s flexible service options and the organization tools provided through Entourage’s Link website.

Lynn Greenberg explained that yearbook advisors can submit yearbook content just weeks before their anticipated delivery date and adjust these dates as needed, so working with Entourage has allowed Five Points Elementary to allocate more time during the development phase. Lynn, who likes to do paper crafts, said that this extra time enabled her to add personalized details to their digital book, which reflects the interests of the individual classes. Inspired by the techniques she learned at Entourage’s annual High School Advisors’ Conference, Lynn added that the extra time allowed her to explore design options with their Entourage Account Manager, Ellen Sillery, who she said was “like a third member of the team.” They decided to utilize unique printing and paper options that enable the yearbook to function like a coloring book.

When asked for suggestions for new yearbook advisors, Lynn Greenberg recommended having a rough timeline of creative milestones to improve the organization in the long and short term. However, Lynn said that Entourage’s flexible submission deadlines have been helpful during the organization process of their yearbook since the yearbook team can spend more time collecting photos from busy teachers and class parents. Additionally, the extra time allowed them to obtain pictures taken later in the school year, which they otherwise could not include. Lynn and Ms. Steele initially attempted to supplement their photos with those taken from the teachers’ class web pages but found they needed to rely heavily on the class parents due to teachers’ time constraints. The yearbook team organized the collection effort through Entourage’s Link website, which serves as an online community space for each school and a school store. Each teacher at Five Points Elementary School Yearbook was assigned a folder on Link, which enabled approved members to upload photos directly to the yearbook account’s media folders. These photo organization tools helped Lynn and Ms. Steele verify that they had even coverage of students and important school events.