Let's Have Some Fun. The Yearbook Is Done!

YEAR-END CELEBRATIONS 1. FORM A PLANNING COMMITTEE

This is their yearbook and their work, so let them determine what to do. You may need to give them some parameters, such as budget, but let them handle the details. You don’t need anything else on your plate. If you have a staff position such as Morale Chair, who has been taking care of acknowledging birthdays and special occasions throughout the year, that person would be in charge and can select committee members. Otherwise, form a committee or ask for volunteers. 2. DETERMINE A BUDGET You may have the expenses for this in your budget already. If not, decide whether students or parents will cover some of the cost. Review the ideas below, see what you want to do and then determine how to pay for it. 3. DECIDE ON THE TYPE OF CELEBRATION Tradition may dictate this – either to follow what’s always been done or to break away from it. If you’ve not had a year-end celebration before or would like fresh ideas, here are events to consider for weekdays, weeknights or weekends: • Party in your classroom during or after school • Picnic at local park • Dinner at restaurant • Meal and ceremony at rented restaurant room, community center or church Jim McCrossen, adviser at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas, has a party combining the yearbook and newspaper staffs. “We do this the night before yearbook distribution and include the first public showing of the yearbook,” McCrossen says. “We do announce any awards won by the publications and the staff members, so the parents hear it mentioned publicly.”

Before the year-end staff party at Hagerty High School in Oviedo, Florida, staff members nominate students for various awards related to work on the yearbook. The nominees are announced at the staff’s year-end party. Every nominee gets to keep their spread and nomination form, and each winner also gets a trophy – a decorated sundae glass.

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