The hardest part of training teenagers to create a yearbook is impressing on them the true value of a yearbook is when you look at it 40 years from now. I found a great story about a woman who comes across her high school yearbook after 40 years, and even though she didn’t have any school spirit back then, she enjoyed looking through it as a history book of her years in high school.

Moral to yearbook staffs: Yearbooks are a true life-time treasure. Make sure you document current news, fashion trends, tech discoveries, etc… 40 years from now, that’s what you’re going to want to see and laugh about as you reflect on how cool it all was at the time! And to those still including baby photos outside of parent ads, ask yourself, “Do you really want to know what that guy in your math class looked like as a baby 40 years from now?” Wouldn’t you rather reminisce about Spirit Week, or that amazing bottle rocket project in physics class, or the night your basketball team won the division title, or the wonderfully magical winter formal you went to with…what was his name? And, speaking of names…I will venture a guess regarding your ability to remember everyone’s name…wouldn’t it be great if every photo had a caption with the names of the people in it? I’ll bet that will greatly improve the value of that book to you at that time in your life.

Moral to all other students: You may not have school spirit now, but that doesn’t mean a yearbook will not be of value to you 40 years from now…