The Yearbooking Report Podcast

It's the PHOTO Episode with great ideas, advice and inspiration from veteran freelance photographer and photo instructor Mike McLean. This one goes a little long because Mike has so much great information and stories to share, all tied to improving your photography this year. Get ready to take LOTS of notes...

Welcome back to a new school year - and we're ready no matter what challenges may come. Are YOU ready? This episode will help you get there with great advice, ideas and inspiration from guest Sarah Nichols, one of the top student journalism advisers in America and president of the Journalism Education Association (JEA.) Listen for thoughts on effective student leadership and organization for yearb...

Happy End of School Year and Summer Break! But it never quite ends, does it? And active use of social media is one easy way to stay in touch with your audience all year long from wherever you are.    Listen for great ideas and insights from Kristen Johnson of Jostens Social about WHY to use social media, HOW to use social media and all the basics. Plus find out about the cool new Jostens student i...

We're all looking ahead to the end of this challenging school year - but then we're concerned for the future, not of yearbooking but for education in general. Students and teachers are struggling, and schools may need years to rebound. What to do? This episode feature comments and insights from Sara Sausker, Jostens yearbook pro who recently became a leader of the Jostens Renaissance effort. Renai...

What does the future hold for education, and for yearbooking? Especially - WHO will handle the effort, advisers or students? And WHERE can these people be found? The issue of recruiting for next year and the future is a key one for every yearbook staff. Listen to a great conversation with Jostens Creative Accounts Manager Lizabeth Walsh who offers great ideas and advice, but also pulls no punches....

It's halfway through the school year but not too late to try some new creative design ideas with your yearbooking effort. Get ready for a LOT of them with insights from Jostens Creative Design Manager Rick Brooks. What's hot and trendy, how has the pandemic affected design, what are some new cool cover treatments, and much more - you'll be taking notes on what's popular with design for this year a...

In a year of continued challenges, covering people and getting student reactions to news happening around them can be two big keys to a successful yearbooking effort. Yearbooks are always about telling stories, and this episode of TYR features great ideas and insights from veteran adviser Mitch Eden from Kirkwood HS in Missouri. Hear how his staff reports on Kirkwood students with their thoughts a...

Now that school is rolling everywhere, has your yearbook staff come up with a new theme for this year's edition? Maybe you've never tried to develop a theme before? Listen to a great conversation with veteran adviser Jess Hunziker from Castle Rock, CO as she describes the steps in really working a theme on the inside of the book, why coming up with a unique local theme may be the best of all, and...

Welcome back to a new school year, and probably another challenging start to a school year. Many yearbook advisers and staffs struggled last year - will it happen again? How to avoid this?   The start of Season 4 of the Report features adviser Emily Hockenberry from Towanda, PA. Last year Emily was a rookie adviser who took on the challenge of not only yearbooking but leading in a pandemic. And sh...

To wrap up the most challenging school year EVER and the third season of the Report, TYR did something new: we talked to three excellent yearbook student editors about how they dealt with this year, the difficulties they faced, what they learned from it, and some advice for next year's yearbook staffs. The round robin conversation shows the resilience of young people and how they all created terri...

As we approach the final weeks of this school year (YAY, finally!) this is a great time for yearbook advisers and staffs to begin some advance preparation for next year's effort. What to do? What to handle? HOW?  Listen for some great advice and ideas from award winning adviser Ava Butzu from Grand Blanc HS in Michigan. Better have a pad and pen for note taking, along with interesting opinions and...

We're back - and in this episode we're looking back but also looking forward with repeat guest Erika Lin Payne. Erika appeared last August in our episode about leading a staff remotely from 2,000 miles away which she's been doing since BEFORE the Virus That Shall Not Be Named showed up. After seven months of this situation this school year, what has she learned about yearbooking and education in g...

As yearbook staffs navigate this very challenging school year, what are the technology tools that keep Jostens schools ahead? And how did they come about? Listen to a fascinating interview with Jostens Product Director John Dalke as we talk some tech, find out more about some great yearbooking tools and look to the future. 

It's a new year but the same problems - how to make a great yearbook during a crazy pandemic? In this episode we talk with a true award-winning yearbooking legend, Jostens Ambassador and retired adviser Margaret Sorrows. The conversation goes from tips on great yearbook making and motivating kids to do good work to dealing with stress in this insane year, with some valuable adviser for newer advis...

Whew, what a year. Many folks are essentially stumbling into the holiday break. This month Scott has a special edition filled with tips, ideas, advice and more for yearbook advisers right now and some just for educators anywhere. Is your school or yearbook staff considering these ideas?  How can teachers get re-motivated? How can struggling students get rewarded? How can you possibly finish the ye...

As we head into holiday season in the most bizarre year ever, many yearbook staffs are beginning to create their page layouts for their historic 2021 book. But how to do that well? Get lots of great tips, ideas and inspiration from Jostens Creative Account Manager Tina Cleavelin in this month's episode, along with some great advice for rookie advisers this year and for ALL advisers on just how to...

What's it like to be a yearbook cover artist? This month Scott talks with Jostens artist Dylan Rush on a series of art topics - what's it like this challenging year? How is work different? What should a yearbook staff do to prep for their cover session? Are you born with artistic talent or is it learned? Hear some interesting insights on one of the key elements of any top yearbook, plus informatio...

In this craziest school year ever, what to do with your yearbooking efforts? This month Scott is joined by Jostens Creative Accounts Manager Jeff Moffitt, a veteran yearbook journalist who shares lots of ideas and inspiration for any yearbook adviser and staff during this tumultuous year. Listen also for some thoughts about the future of education and yearbooking, see if you agree!

Welcome back to a new school year. and perhaps the most historic school year EVER. With all of the challenges facing teachers and students this year, how can a yearbook adviser lead their group if they're not all together? Listen for some great advice from adviser Erika Lin Payne of The Rock Academy in San Diego, CA, although for the past year she's been living in Kentucky, over 2,000 miles away!...

Here's a second SPECIAL summer edition of the Report as yearbook advisers and staffs prepare to take on storytelling in what will be the most disrupted school year EVER. And instead of just the spring, this time it could be the entire school year. Rookie advisers could be overwhelmed by the challenges, while veteran advisers will hit problems they've probably never encountered before. Host Scott G...

It's a special edition of the Yearbooking Report as host Scott Geesey talks about this continued crazy situation we're in and looks ahead to the new school year, one that will be like no other. Could the disruptions to school happen all year long? Scott shares some laughs, some views, insights and ideas on how yearbook staffs can handle this new environment and how the idea of good storytelling ma...

WE MADE IT to the end of the most historic school year ever! As we conclude our season and school year listen for some great ideas and tips from veteran adviser Matt LaPorte from Las Vegas, NV. Probably one of the "coolest" advisers around, Matt shares some great ideas for any staff but we also take some time to look to the future - what will school be like in the fall? Will yearbooking somehow ch...

This is a special episode of the Report, an hour long segment with Scott sharing ideas, insights, opinions and predictions about this now historic school year 2020 and a look to the future - what happens now? Grab a pen and paper for plenty of notetaking and see if you agree with some of Scott's thoughts...

Welcome! Hear the latest news and notes, including dealing with the coronavirus shutdown. And listen to an informative interview with Jostens soclal media specialist Jordan Weber with many ideas and insights on using social media for yearbooking and how to get started. Few yearbook staffs use social media, yet it could make a huge difference in your yearboooking efforts from sales to storytelling....

Along with news and insights for late winter, listen to the views of Jostens Creative Accounts Manager Lizabeth Walsh, a former veteran award winning adviser and now a Jostens national workshop presenter and instructor. Grab a pad and pen for some notes on questions ranging from organization to the importance of yearbook to any school. It's a great listen for any adviser, rookie to veteran.