Whether you said goodbye to summer a few weeks ago or you’re just hitting the classroom, we’ve got school on our minds. But back to school means more than new backpacks, classes and clothes. It’s a chance for in-depth and innovative coverage that goes beyond standard BTS pages.
There’s an energy and excitement to the start of a new school year, and that feeling needs to be brought into our student life coverage. We’ve got 13 ideas for elevating back-to-school spreads.
1. Cover the new. What is new or different about the school this year? How is this first day (or week) back different from any other? We can all picture what a typical back-to-school spread looks like, but from what angle will you tell the story about this specific year? Look at the last four BTS spreads your school has done, and find a way to give your readers something less predictable.
2. Be diverse. Incorporate as many different social groups and types of students as possible. Back to school is probably the only event covered in the yearbook in which every student and teacher participates. Everyone has different feelings about going back to school, so get great story-telling quotes.
3. Include before/during/after. Getting content at school during the first few days isn’t that challenging but think about the before and after as well. What happens on those last few days of summer when people are getting ready for the first day? What does it feel like to not be able to sleep in for the first time in weeks? What do people do at the end of the day? Go home and collapse? What teachers give homework on the first day of school?
4. Capture history. It doesn’t hurt to include dates and times on this spread somewhere, especially if there is a change. Incorporate facts and figures about the beginning of the year.
5. Take lots of photos. This is one of those weeks where everyone on staff should be taking tons of photos. Think beyond the typical sitting at a desk on the first day of school. How had life changed now that school is back in session?
6. Show off. New clothes, new hair, new attitude. The first days of school are about a fresh start. Some teachers and students go all out to make a great first impression. Find a way to tell those stories. Perhaps a sidebar with Instagram photos of people showing off their new outfits before they leave the house. In contrast, show the first day outfits versus the 10th day. It’s pretty likely there will be less effort involved. There’s a great story in that.
7. Tell stories. Consider a sidebar featuring someone with a really challenging (or easy) schedule. Or find someone who is in the same classes with their best friend all day. Or someone who has no classes with any of their friends.
8. Accessorize. What is the latest must-haves, tech gadgets and gizmos? What fashion trends are people following? Don’t forget to include numbers, like how much things cost. Twenty years from now, many of these items will no longer exist or will cost a fortune. These details make the book interesting and relevant.
9. Rate advice. For sixth graders or freshmen, the start of the year can be a scary time. Whether it was an older sibling or a neighbor, what advice did incoming students receive that was helpful, or what advice seemed more like a joke?
10. Relive the nightmare. </b>No matter the grade, the start of the school year can be stressful. Find students who had nightmares about showing up in their underwear or going to the wrong classes all day. Also, what nightmares really came true? Share true, embarrassing stories other students can relate to. You’re not the only one who’s walked into the wrong class.
11. Feature new or exchange students. The first day is scary for everyone, but what about the people that just moved into the school? Find out why new students moved in, their first impression of your school and any first day traditions.
12. Compare experiences. Seniors like to feel on top of the world and freshmen are back at the bottom of the totem pole. Gather quotes from seniors and freshmen to compare the different first day experiences. Were freshman or seniors more relaxed? Excited? Who dreaded the first day more?
13. Share expectations verses reality. Was the first day as scary as the freshmen thought it would be? Was it as easy as the seniors thought it would be? Consider gathering quotes from the same students the week before school starts and after the first week of school to see how their opinions on the upcoming year have changed. Or compare their first week thoughts to a month later.
Take any of these ideas and turn it into a full, showstopper spread, or pick and choose a few to run as smaller modules to compliment a dominant package of a back-to-school event. Either way, you’re giving a richer perspective of the start of the school year.