Theme Your Yearbook

• Give the students the power to vote on the theme they want.online vote image by Matteo Gamba from Fotolia.com
  
  Have the senior students vote on a yearbook theme. This could be superheros, travel, growing up, youth, the environment or anything else. The theme will influence everything from the layout to the photos and cover design. Say for example they vote for the theme "change." You can include a section where students write about the changes they wish to see in the world. You can have a poetry section where students are invited to submit poetry with the theme. You could include a picture collage of the students' "changing" appearance over the years.
  
  Allowing senior students to pick a theme gives them a sense of ownership and pride in the book. Thus, they will be more likely to contribute to its creation.
  
  

Hold a Cover Art Competition

• Make the cover bright and eye-grabbing.drawing image by Orlando Florin Rosu from Fotolia.com
  
  Have the school's art students submit designs for the cover. Give them a very limited time frame, say a week, to submit artwork. This will cut down on the number of entries. Provide guidelines. First, the drawing must fit into the size specified for the yearbook. Second, the artwork must suit the chosen theme. Third, have a panel of teachers (art teachers, for example) vote on the best artwork.
  
  The winning student will have his artwork on the cover of the yearbook and a photo at the back with his profile. You can also have art students design the drawings that will be watermarked on each page. To do so, you can take submissions or simply ask five students in each art class to submit a drawing.
  
  

Personal Stories Section

• Put students' creative pieces in a special section.liebesgedicht image by Angelika Bentin from Fotolia.com
  
  Have students from each grade submit creative stories about their school year. They can submit comedic or dramatic pieces, as well as poetry or fiction. Choose four or five of the best and publish them in a Students' Stories section. Give the students plenty of notice so that they have time to write excellent stories.
  
  

"Vote for the..."Section

• Most likely to make a million dollars by 20, Who could it be?Bunch of Dollars and broun day planner for 2007 year image by Olga Sapegina from Fotolia.com
  
  Create a page at the end of the school photos called "vote for the ..." In this section, have a list of the following, with a space to write in names:
  
  Best hairstyle
  
  Best smile
  
  Most likely to succeed
  
  Most likely to live overseas
  
  Most likely to be president of the United States
  
  Going to be famous.
  
  These are just a few ideas, and you can write more. Again, to get the students more involved, have the seniors decide what will be on the list. You can also include a list for teachers where students can fill out "favorite teacher," "teacher most likely to be a rock star" and "teacher with the weirdest fashion."
  
  

Students Choose

• Have the students work collectively. This will teach them collaboration and give them a sense of pride in the yearbook.group image by ARNAUD JORON from Fotolia.com
  
  Finally, to make your yearbook stand out, set up a panel of students either in each grade or just the seniors. This panel can be elected by either the teachers or the student group at large. Give them several months to plan, organize and arrange the yearbook. Again, this will give the students a sense of ownership as well as something to look forward to at the end of the year. Assign a teacher to supervise, and tell them to be creative and mature in their approach.