Yearbook Ideas: We're All in this Pandemic Together. How to Capture 20-21 in the Yearbook.

Virtually anyway…

Capturing our memories has never been more important, we’re documenting history. We will be talking about the 20-21 school year for the rest of our lives. We all hold onto our yearbooks, but this year will likely become our most treasured, and our most unique. Coming up with yearbook ideas on what to cover, well that’s another challenge altogether.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all wondering… Are we distance learning, are we studying in cohorts, are we having activities and events? The answer seems to change every day. Given all the unknowns, predicting what will be in the yearbook is anyone’s best guess.

We have spoken with thousand’s of yearbook editors to compile a list of yearbook ideas for you to consider in planning the 20-21 yearbook. We’ll cover everything from yearbook spreads to yearbook management in hopes of helping you build your best yearbook yet. Not sure where to start, check out these 4 steps to help you hit the ground running.

Yearbook Spread Ideas During a Pandemic

1. Capturing Back-to-School(ish) in Your Yearbook: Collect photos of students on their first day back to school. What does their at-home desk look like? What are they wearing?
2. Class Pages Sans Classroom: Include images of your teacher’s virtual classroom and screenshots of Zoom Meetings. Poll your students to find out what they liked/didn’t like.
3. Create a Geocache for your Community & Cover Participation in the Yearbook: While practicing the social distancing rules of your community, set up a few treasure hunts (geocaches) based on things students are learning and ask them to share photos of themselves at each location.
4. We’re All In This Together: Gather photos and stories showing how your community is supporting one another (rainbows in windows, painted rock hunts, free and reduced lunch support, etc).
5. Drive-by Yearbook Spread: Create a spread of all the drive-by activities held throughout the year (drive-by teacher appreciation day, drive-by birthday parties).
6. Mask Fashion: Show some of the typical mask styles, but include topics such as: Who Wore It Best, Silliest Masks, Facemask bling, etc)
7. School Spirit with Flat Stanley: Create a printable version of your school mascot and ask students to send in photos showcasing their school pride with their flat mascot.
8. 30 Virtual Spirit Week Ideas & How to Cover It In Your Yearbook: More than crazy hat day, we’ve found a bunch of ideas to let your students have fun from wherever they’re learning.
9. 20-21 Top TikTok Challenges: Cover the most popular TikTok challenges of 20-21 with photos and videos in your yearbook.
10. Yearbook Sports Spreads When Game Day’s Canceled: Instead of the typical action shots, create athlete profiles and ask them how they are staying in shape. Find out how students are being recruited, explore what sports they watch on TV, and what does it look like (a lot of empty stands).
11. Covering the New Normal of Student Clubs in the 2021 Yearbook: Find out how to ask the right questions, and find out how your student body is changing student clubs this year will make for not only a unique but very memorable yearbook spread to look back on in years to come.
12. BElieve in YOUrselfie: Instead of the traditional, what do you want to be when you grow up, ask students for selfies dressed up as what they’d like to be when they grow up.
13. Virtual Classroom Yearbook Ideas: What to Cover When School’s Closed: Consider these non-traditional topics to add to your yearbook coverage.
14. Covering Student Life During a Pandemic: What’s the cost of school supplies, do students need different supplies than they have in the past? What about gas prices and stock prices? Have any favorite local businesses been lost? What are the most popular social distance games?
15. Online Habits Pre/During Pandemic: What do you do online now that you didn’t do before? Have you found local stores opening a digital storefront?
16. Offline Habits Pre/During Pandemic: What do you enjoy offline now that you didn’t before? Searching with family for painted rocks? Becoming the next Edgar Mueller of sidewalk chalk?
17. At Home Fashion Trends: 2021 jeans are out, pajamas are in!
18. Pets at School: If you’re virtually learning, show off your pets that now get to go to school with you every day. More families have rescued and adopted pets, showcase the new furry friends.
19. Pandemic Yearbook Idea: Create a Timeline of the Year’s Changes: How did your school open? How many times did things change? Report on accounts of people in the area with the virus. Create a glossary of the new terms (social distance, new normal, flattening the curve, distance learning, etc).
20. Yearbook Theme Ideas for 2021: The Year Like No Other: Together Apart. Expect the Unexpected. History in the Making. Pajama Days. A Year Like No Other. And these are just a few… We’ve got ideas, examples, and community surveys to get you “unmasked” this year.
21. Learning Pod Yearbooks: Create a few pages or a full yearbook to represent your community learning style. Each learning pod could create its own page.
22. Yearbook Superlatives & Surveys for the Unique 20-21 School Year: Over 40 ideas for yearbook superlatives & surveys that are as unique as this school year. The year we’re ALL most likely to be stuck at home.

Yearbook Photography Tips During a Pandemic

1. Yearbook Portrait Ideas for 2021 During the Covid-19 Pandemic: When hiring a photographer might not work. In case you are unable to have photographers come to the school this year, we have ideas on how to get portraits for your students.
2. The Screenshot Might Need to Replace the Camera: Share tips and tricks with your contributors on how to capture a great screenshot.
3. Tips For Sourcing Yearbook Photos From Your Community When Distance Learning: Finding photos for the yearbook is never easy, it’s even more difficult when virtually learning. With these tips you’ll be organized and have more photos than you know what to do with.
4. Build a Yearbook Spread with ONLY Screenshots: Not only is it possible, but it can also be a fun way to represent what is making this year so unique.
5. How To Take Great Yearbook Photos With an iPhone: Your best camera is the one you have with you after all. Check out these tips to get the best out of yours.
6. 4 Yearbook Photography Tips to Capture the Students Behind the Mask: Whether back in the classroom 6 feet apart, or virtually learning, these photography tips will have your yearbook photos looking great.

Yearbook Collaboration During a Pandemic

1. Traditional School Fundraisers Not An Option This Year Due To COVID-19? Consider the Yearbook: Selling recognition ads, adding a fundraiser to the cost of your book, or selling ads to local businesses is a great way to support your students and local businesses.
2. Tips For Sourcing Yearbook Photos From Your Community When Distance Learning: Gathering yearbook photos from your community is never easy. With these tips, you’ll be organized and have more than you know what to do with.
3. Your Yearbook Photos: “Can you use my Instagram shots?”: Turn all of your parents and students into photographers for your content. Post this information on your school website or Facebook page, or send out an email to your school once a month, letting everyone know where they can send their Instagram or Facebook photos for consideration. 
4. Great Yearbook Marketing: Improve Your Email Campaign to Drive Sales: There are very specific ways you can optimize this particular tactic for maximum impact. To help you to take the right steps towards success, we’ve developed a short guide that outlines the best ways to use email within your yearbook marketing to drive sales this year.
5. Yearbook Sales: Make Your 2021 Yearbook a Sell-Out Success: This new year calls for some new messaging and new sales channels. Discover how to market your 2021 yearbook in the middle of a pandemic.

We hope this helps set your yearbook community up for success. We will be adding to this list as we gather more ideas and adding more hyperlinks on full how-to articles where appropriate, so save this page and come back often. If there is something specific you’d like help with, email marketing@treering.com and we’ll see what we can do to help.