Starting and finishing strong isn’t just for marathons (although advising yearbook sure feels like one at times). The fall months are ideal for beginning the momentum for your yearbook program. From building your team to selecting a yearbook theme, the fall is an ideal time to begin working alongside your school community. Fall in love with these tips to crowdsource more yearbook photos during September, October, and November.
Fall Celebration Photos to Crowdsource
Use the fun “National Holidays” to create dress up days, activities, or even sidebar coverage for your yearbook. Libraries and DEAR Time can be the focus on September 6, Read a Book Day. Photographs of students with their stuffed friends on September 9’s National Teddy Bear Day make for a cuddly sidebar that pairs well within a classroom PJ Day. And let’s face it, nothing says volunteer and teacher appreciation like National Coffee Day on September 19!
Some other fall holidays to use when sourcing photos include:
- World Smile Day on the first Friday in October
- National Coaches’ Day on October 6
- National Reptile Awareness Day on October 21
- National Sandwich Day on November 3
- National STEAM Day on November 8
- National Education Week during the week before Thanksgiving
Source POV Photos
Social media continues to be a steady stream of photographs and posts from the perspectives of parents, staff, and students on your campus. Commenting, “May we use this in the yearbook?” is a way to build excitement for the book and encourage a student whose photo is truly worth sharing beyond their social feed. Some Treering schools promote a hashtag that equates reprinting permission and also makes it easy to search for images.
Using photographs sourced from parents, staff, and students adds a layer of authenticity to your yearbook because it involves new perspectives. Consider crowdsourcing photos from
- Fans at athletic events
- The cast and crew of the musical
- Art students and their in-progress works
- Two students snapping the same event, from different angles
- A period of time, such as the prep hours before the Homecoming dance
As always, a call to contribute to the yearbook is also a call to purchase a yearbook. Use these fall events as opportunities to sell yearbooks as well.
Partner with Classroom Teachers to Source Yearbook Photos
There are those record-keeping, awareness-raising, champions of academia on campus who photograph student activities. Those are the teachers with whom to connect. (For every teacher-storyteller on your campus, there will be one overwhelmed with the idea of one more thing to do. Know your audience.)
Classroom photos don’t always have to be posed group shots of students. Classroom photographs can also include workspace photographs. Flat lays of student and teacher desks or open backpacks offer insight into personality, workstyle patterns, and any quirks. This is also a way to feature those camera-shy campus personalities.
Some teachers choose to incorporate photography in their lessons. You may use the results as a way to showcase student art and cover classroom happenings.
