It’s no secret that we love yearbooks. Who doesn’t? They’re the perfect keepsake of a school year, something you can look back on even decades later for a good laugh or when you’re feeling nostalgic.
We believe these memories in and of themselves are an important gift that every student should have, but what if we told you that yearbooks can bring even more benefits to the students at your school?
When students are involved in building a yearbook, amazing things happen.
They become better students.
They’re better equipped for college and university, and eventually the workforce.
They’ll go on to find a cure for cancer and stop global warming!
Okay, we may be exaggerating a bit on that last one, but the rest holds up. Students who work on their school yearbook really do gain skills that can help set them up for a better future. Read on to find out how.
They improve their soft skills
Being part of yearbook production requires skills like organization, teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and collaboration. These skills are important as they continue their public school years and work on group projects in the classroom, but they become increasingly more important as students enter post-secondary schools or the “real world”.
It’s a fun way to develop these skills, too!
They gain hard skills
Students working on their yearbook will have to learn about things like photography, journalism, graphic design, and working with computers.
In a world where many teenagers don’t know what kind of career they want, gaining firsthand experience in some potential careers can be vital for helping them decide what to do when they finish high school. It serves as a lower risk experimentation for them versus spending an entire semester doing a co-op, and it’s a ton of fun to boot.
That’s not to mention how great their yearbook experience will look on their college or university applications! Who knows, maybe they will end up curing cancer.
They start to build a portfolio
Bring on the AP high school classes or journalism school applications; yearbook students are ready for it all.
Finishing in the spring with a tangible output is more than just a source of pride for those who worked on it. It’s proof that they worked hard on a year-long project and likely overcame obstacles to get it done. How many admissions advisors wouldn’t be impressed by that?