Embedded Files
Although writing is not one of my strengths and is out of my specialty, when creating a spread, it is inevitable.
Here are some of the writings I did for the yearbook:
For the science spread:
"On the day of the lab, excitement filled the air in the classroom, but some seemed a little nervous to be using fire. Despite the nerves, Patel said that 'it's overall fun because even when you're learning, you're doing it with friends,' appreciating the cooperative environment of the class"
"For many students, group assignments like this is a way to practice teamwork and learn more than they could on their own. As chemistry teacher Suzy Drurey puts it, students 'bring their unique personalities, individual experiences and new ways to look at the world around us.'"
For the polyglots spread:
"Being multilingual has practical benefits when you are traveling - you can communicate and establish personal connections with people. However, it also allows you to 'experience things that otherwise you couldn't.' Gessa enjoys being a Spanish teacher and connecting with students from different cultural backgrounds at Newton South. For him, 'it allows you to learn new things, and just as importantly, to re-assess who you are.'"
For the indoor track & field spread:
"Avianna, who started throwing in her junior year, placed first in the shot put with a score of 36 feet in the DCL Championship meet, allowing her to qualify for the nationals. She says that throughout this season, where s compared themselves to more experienced throwers, she "showed them [her] progress from last year. Showing them where [she] was when [she] was beginning helped them understand that you don't get better from just one week of practice, but rather months of dedication and practice."
For the water bottle spread:
"Owala water bottles had a very sudden rise in popularity this year as it gained popularity on various social media platforms. Its multitude of functions and colorful appearance also contributed to its rise in popularity."
For the Laptop spread:
"I've been reloading their site like 50 times a day...the $8 shipping fee is absurd but I'm still gonna order them," Aoba Fujita (12) remarked observing her peers collection of Sonny Angels and Smiskis. This year, South students got caught in the never-ending addiction tto these small, cute, and captivating figures that sit on students' laptops and phones. While students hustle to finish their endless homeworks and studying, they form a small smile on their lips as they meet eyes with the figures."
For the basketball spread:
"Junior captain Hannah Schwager says that through basketball, she has learned to look at the bigger picture and focus on what's best for the team. Despite being a new team and having to “adjust on the fly,” Hannah says that it is “a great group of people who, in the end, enjoy being around one another.” As a captain and a player, Hannah looks up to former tennis player Billie Jean King as “she paved the way for so many girl’s sports and gave us the opportunity to play.'”
Interviews - the essential
Interviews - the essential
Without interviews, no one can ever make a spread. Interviews are an essential part of a spread, and it is one of the aspects of the yearbook that makes a significant difference in the quality of the page.
My view on a so-called "good interview" has changed over the year on Regulus. In my first year, I thought that any interview response that sounded sophisticated (maybe because they were using big words or perhaps __) was a "good interview". In my mind, those interviews asking about the community and how teams do team bonding, for example, were good enough for a spread. Looking back at some of the writings I did, they all sound the same: everyone is talking about how good their community is.
Now, I believe that a "good interview" is something that tells a story of someone that the readers wouldn't have known if not for that interview. Think about it this way. Who actually cares about how good the community is, and who would want to read a body text about the community? No one. But who would want to read a body text formatted more like a story, where quotes from the interviews are embedded and you get to know a side of the interviewed student you didn't know? I bet way more people.
Below are two documents that my team and I used to take notes of the interviews. The document on the left is from my first year, and the document on the right is from my second year on Regulus.
The screenshot to the left is from the Regulus website's content how-to section. It covers the very basics of how to form an interview question since having a good interview question is key to bringing out the story that we want to tell.
The screenshot to the right is from the same page as the one above. Although we strongly encourage our staff to schedule an in-person interview, sometimes it is just easier to send an email or DM to the student. And so this is why we have this little template of an email to help our staff send out interviews.
Subheadings
Subheadings
Why focus on subheadings and not headings?
Headings are vital to a page, as it is the first thing a student reads when they turn the page. But subheadings are what attract students to read and observe the content on the spread, as well as help them understand what the section is about.
For example, would you know what this module is about without the subheading "Drink of Choice" and the text below? Probably not.
What about this section from the field hockey spread? If you were skimming through this page and found the subheading "Time for a Cake," wouldn't you think to yourself, "What does a cake have to do with field hockey?" The subheading will prompt students to read the actual body text where our yearbook staff put effort into interviewing and formatting it into a paragraph.
The same goes for an infographic. Without the subheading and the text below it, the readers wouldn't know what this pie chart is for and the meaning of it.
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