I’m a Yearbook Groupie: Jackie’s Journey
By Jacqueline Davis
Initial Impact
Do you remember that one teacher who left a lasting impact on you? For me, that teacher was Mr. David A. Staver, my yearbook advisor and photojournalism teacher in high school. He instilled in me a passion for documentation and storytelling that still resonates with me today and inspired me to become a yearbook advisor myself. He had the most impressive resume and a background of serving in the Air Force, and yet he found himself in high school. I will never forget when he told me that if something said, “wet paint,” I would touch it. And guess what? He is right. That has never left me in over 30 years, and therefore I find myself as a yearbook advisor wanting to do the same: make a student feel noticed, important, and part of a team called yearbook. I am enthusiastic about being a yearbook advisor and proudly say I am a yearbook groupie.
My current class
Rewarding Role
It is one of the most challenging yet rewarding roles at the same time, being a yearbook advisor for a K-12 school. Fortunately, one main challenge is off my plate: raising funds or selling books. At our school, the finance office charges for one book per family. After that, we simply share a form with everyone to buy extras for the families that have extra siblings or teachers that do not have enrolled students. So, it is exceptionally good not to have that burden of selling books. For fellow advisors or parent volunteers who have this challenge, please know that I do think of you and would have to get creative with you and find resources to overcome that burden on top of everything else we have before us.
Progressive Pathway
I have been enthusiastic about the yearbook for as long as I can remember. In middle school, I used to cut out pictures of magazines, mostly ads, and make collages, gluing them on paper and using them to decorate the inside of my locker. Someone told me that I could be a designer or in advertising someday. I thought it sounded like a great idea. In high school, I knew I wanted to take the photojournalism class, and the teacher also was the yearbook advisor, Mr. Staver. Long story short, I was in both photography and yearbook for all four years in high school, with my last year being the Advertising Editor. It was just a particularly enjoyable time for me: the experience, the fun class, and producing something that was a permanent record for the school and for everyone. Throughout my professional career, I have been in publications using my desktop publishing background as well as print. That evolved into corporate identity, branding, and overall communications for my companies. I briefly went into the “eBusiness” market but always found myself going back to print media, even in our age of the internet.
Memory Maker
As a working mom who traveled with kids in tow, it was important to me that they had a yearbook. Thankfully, their virtual school had a yearbook we could submit a photo and purchase. One year, we were with a homeschool co-op. I told the moms that I would easily teach photography the first semester, and then we would produce a yearbook the second semester. I confess it was a success and is the go-to conversation piece that everyone has enjoyed from that school year since we all have the year documented in photos and text. Sadly, they had not done one since, making the 20-page book we did that much more valuable.
My 2023 class
Renewing Resources
At my kids’ brick-and-mortar school, I shadowed the long-term yearbook advisor who was going to leave and ended up collaborating with her on the yearbook when the school closed in March 2020 for the pandemic. I had already started looking for other software options for making the yearbook. The class had become more of a “production class” with outdated software rather than a fun yearbook class. I rebranded the class as “student media” and found a printing company with online software, curriculum, and support that fit our budget. That Summer, I attended virtual yearbook webinars and boot camps, joined the Journalism Education Association, and attended the semi-annual high school convention when things went back in person. It was amazing to feel included in this large community.
Community Connections
From speaking to the community’s top influencers in virtual meetings. Summer 2020, then meeting them in person at the convention was amazing. This community felt like an immediate family that understood everything it meant to be a ‘yearbook person.’ Sure, we used different companies or software or could debate the ‘Oxford comma,’ but then there were those who did not know what that was, and we all treated each other like equals who had known each other for a long time. These are connections that have kept growing ever since. I made sure to enjoy the time with those who appreciated and understood this role.
It is one of the most challenging yet rewarding roles at the same time, being a yearbook advisor for a K-12 school. Fortunately, one main challenge is off my plate: raising funds or selling books. At our school, the finance office charges for one book per family. After that, we simply share a form with everyone to buy extras for the families that have extra siblings or teachers that do not have enrolled students. So, it is exceptionally good not to have that burden of selling books. For fellow advisors or parent volunteers who have this challenge, please know that I do think of you and would have to get creative with you and find resources to overcome that burden on top of everything else we have before us.
My Senior Yearbook
Personal Passion
The yearbook advisor role is underappreciated, so you must find the internal excitement to fuel yourself once you are back in your classroom after the conferences and conventions. You will not please everyone from the theme to the final book. You will have rare individuals who will appreciate your time, heart, and efforts in getting all the pieces and parts together in a presentable format. Because you might be a volunteer or teacher with no extra pay or meager stipend to do the book, you must find your own joy in this. For me, while it is part of my role at the school, it has become more of an enjoyable hobby, and I am internally satisfied with the final product. The enjoyment of bringing a community together through their memories in pictures and words is something you cannot quite describe.
Rewarding Resources
It is amazing to think I just needed resources for producing a yearbook with my students, and yet, I gained friendships, support, and an abundance of resources across the nation instantly because of this common bond with making a yearbook, a timepiece we produce. It is truly a rewarding experience that keeps me encouraged and growing every year. I also became a certified critic/judge for yearbook contests to learn, grow, and give back to the community. For the contests, I get to keep the books and potentially earn a gift card or stipend for my time. It is great. I encourage these additional opportunities outside the classroom.
Community Contribution
So, if you find yourself becoming or being a yearbook groupie, remind yourself to keep the balance and avoid burnout. I think a portion of advisers want to quit every year, but once the book is handed out and people are enjoying the pages (ignore the negative), we get back to doing it again the next year. This is why I volunteer to judge in the summer to get a renewed spirit and, of course, ideas. It is good to keep up with personal and professional development while being open to other opportunities to serve back.
Did you enjoy this blog? Well there’s more with that came from, discover Yearbook Groupie! A collaborative forum and blog site for yearbook advisors.