There’s no better way to celebrate the growth of your middle school students and to commemorate the end of another year than to throw a yearbook signing party.
We love the idea of a middle school yearbook signing party, but we also know that yearbook advisers already wear a lot of hats. Adding “party planner” to the mix might not be your idea of fun right now.
So we’re here to help.
The biggest pieces of advice you can take away from this post? A yearbook signing party doesn’t need to be fancy. And it doesn’t need to be a standalone event. (We know: Total relief!)
Read on, and we’ll answer the five biggest questions around how you can easily throw an awesome middle school yearbook signing party—with hardly any extra time and no extra money.
Who should come to a middle school yearbook signing party?
Everybody.
“Even those who didn’t buy a yearbook?,” you ask. Yup.
A yearbook signing party should be a school-wide celebration. The yearbook isn’t just a book. It’s a vehicle for helping students remember the friendships they made that year and a way for everyone in the school community to celebrate the stories that ended up in the yearbook (and those that didn’t, too). You should treat your party the same way. And if you’ve ordered extra books just in case people change their mind and want one, this is a great opportunity to get yearbooks to students who didn’t initially buy a yearbook.
What should you have at the party?
Yearbooks, duh. That’s all you really need; anything else is gravy.
Music is probably at the top of that “anything else” list since it’s plenty easy to pull together a playlist. We’re also willing to bet your students would be stoked to lend a hand in crafting it. All you need are a few tunes, an iPhone, and a portable speaker or two.
When should you have it?
Try to tie your signing party to an end-of-the-year celebration if your middle school has one.
There are a lot of advantages to this, but the biggest one is this: There’s a lot of work already being done to make that celebration totally awesome, too. There’s likely a place picked out, decorations bought, and food ordered. If you’re like us, a big light bulb just turned on in your head. That celebration could use yearbooks and your yearbooks could use food. Why not combine forces?
If you don’t have a school-wide celebration, try running your middle school yearbook signing party as an after-school event or a lunchtime party. They’re both great second options. While neither will guarantee you the whole school at once, they are more manageable to plan and host.
One other thing: Given how hugely busy the end of the year is for schools, make sure your yearbook signing party doesn’t overlap with other popular events like a sports game or field trip (unless you’re combining with them, of course).
Where should you hold it?
If you’re not teaming up with an end-of-year celebration, you’ll need to find a place to hold your signing party.
Our advice? Book a large space, like a gymnasium or cafeteria, if you’re expecting the whole school community. If you’re only expecting students who bought yearbooks, pick your space based on the number of books you’ve sold and the time of day you’re hosting your signing party.
How can you make your middle school yearbook signing party a little more special?
Maybe it’s because we’re a yearbook company, but we think the best way to make your yearbook signing party a little more special starts with treating your yearbook a little more special.
Here are two ideas that put your book on a pedestal (in a good way):
- Honor your graduating class by distributing yearbooks to them first, then the class below, and so on. This seniority treatment gives your students something to look forward to as they progress through their middle school careers.
- Hand out yearbooks to those who pre-ordered them, then wait a day or two to sell the extras to everyone else. This makes your event a little more ceremonial and lends an air of exclusivity to the books themselves.
Of course, there are other approaches, too. If your staff wants to go the extra mile, they can think of ways to incorporate your yearbook theme into the party and they could coordinate to wear yearbook theme colors to the party so they match as they hand out books.
But really, the big thing here is that a yearbook signing party doesn’t need to cost you any money (or cause any stress). Save those funds and take it easy, so you can enjoy the party, too.
