Organizing Your School Yearbook Staff
Keep your yearbook staff organized and motivated with the tips provided below.
School Yearbook Staff Roles
Your school yearbook committee can be made up of the following:
- Students who participate as part of an elected curriculum.
- Students who volunteer as an extracurricular activity.
- Parent volunteers.
Define a job description for each yearbook staff member to clarify who’s responsible for each part of the project. Here are some common school yearbook staff or committee roles:
- Yearbook Adviser: Manages the overall school yearbook project, including deadlines, budgets and yearbook staff management.
- Editor: Helps establish the style of the yearbook and approves and finalizes yearbook content, including headlines, captions, stories and selected photos.
- Photographers: Photograph assigned events and record names of those photographed, along with what is occurring in the photograph.
- Writers: Gather facts and quotes at various school activities, select photos and write copy for pages.
Recruiting
Gather an enthusiastic staff by stirring up excitement about being part of the school yearbook project. Here are some tips for finding volunteers:.
- Host an open house in the yearbook staff room. Display past school yearbooks and demo the Online Yearbooks website. Serve refreshments.
- Emphasize how rewarding it is to part of the yearbook staff.
- Encourage representation from different grades, skills and experiences.
- Distribute formal applications and require teachers to recommend at least one good staff candidate.
- Interview prospective team members about their reasons for applying, time availability, commitment and ideas for the project.
- If you’re recruiting parent volunteers, advertise through organizations (PTO, PTA), and by sending home flyers.
Motivating
If your staff is happy and having fun, it will show up in your yearbook pages. Here are some tips for keeping your staff energized:
- Recognize a job well done. A “thank you” takes little effort and goes a long way.
- Get to know each other. Create an atmosphere where staff members can share ideas and resources.
- Celebrate often. Have a small party when deadlines are met or if you reach a particular goal.
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