Idea File Fall 2024

Facing Feedback. During a visit to Aledo High School, Tripp Walsworth takes notes as he meets with Maxwell Howe and Mason Linderbaum, who both have a strong interest in programming. They discussed the students’ thoughts on future ideas for the Adobe ® InDesign ® enhancements. Tripp traveled across the country to meet with advisers, students and Walsworth sales reps to better understand their thoughts about yearbooks and working with Walsworth. Photo courtesy of Jill Chittum, MJE Proud Moment. After unveiling the cover of the University of Notre Dame yearbook at an end-of-year banquet, Dome yearbook editor-in-chief Natalie Modugno poses with Tripp Walsworth in front of their cover. The staff worked with a Walsworth cover artist to bring their idea to life, and the student body gave overwhelmingly positive feedback. The University of Notre Dame has published their yearbook with Walsworth Yearbooks for 50 consecutive years. Photo courtesy of Valerie T. Tanke, CJE

+ | BONUS: | STAY ORGANIZED The difference between success and failure can come down to one simple thing: organization – or the lack thereof. “You’ve got to be organized. As an adviser, you deal with so many kids, potentially across multiple classes. If you’re struggling with organization,

your sales representative can help you with organizational strategies, but if you’re not organized, your students might not be organized, and you might miss deadlines. You don’t want deadlines missed, and you don’t want to miss capturing the big moments your school has throughout the year.

If your school has a really nice Veterans Day ceremony that is part of the school’s culture, and there are former students who are now veterans coming back for this, but you completely miss it even though it’s been in the yearbook for 20 years – the yearbook could be impacted. It really all starts with organization.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

During his extensive travels, Tripp had an up-close view of the joys and struggles that go hand in hand with yearbook advising. What stood out to him was how rare the opportunity to do something as meaningful as yearbook is. “Being on the yearbook staff is a great honor. You get to make a strong impact at your school. The yearbook is a history book. As a yearbook adviser, you are leading that charge, and we want to be there to support you however we can.” While there are various metrics each person will use to qualify success, you

are the ultimate decider of how successful your program will be and how it will be remembered. “People define and look at success differently. Looking back on my yearbook experience, we didn’t have a big journalistic background and did not win any Pacemakers or national, prestigious awards,” Tripp said. “But a yearbook is all about collecting the best memories of the year. If you’ve captured that, you’ve created a successful yearbook.” By Jenica Hallman, CJE