Fort Zumwalt South High School, 2019
Extended spring breaks, canceled games and school closures have made it challenging to finish spring coverage. Here are 15 more ideas to fill blank pages.
When short on coverage, we’ve previously suggested books, school T-shirts, selfies and more. If you missed it, check here for 15 last-minute spreads. If you’re still stuck for ideas, we have a few more easy ways to fill space.
Bowie High School, 2019
1. Take-out food With restaurants asked to only offer delivery, drive-thru and take-out options, there’s an opportunity to showcase food. Grab some of the popular favorites and photograph them, or ask students to share their latest take-out options. If possible, add quotes to go with the food. But, even without, the food alone can make for a fun photo spread.
2. Home-cooked meals Since we are self-isolating right now, there’s a lot more time to make homecooked meals. Find out what students are eating, which ones are helping in the kitchen, and those who are trying out new recipes. Reach out to faculty and staff too for their homemade dishes. If you’re short on images, consider running some of the recipes.
Seven Lakes High School, 2019
3. Go to snacks Being at home means we’re raiding the kitchen cabinets a lot more frequently. What are students go-to foods? What’s keeping them sustained? Photograph the food on white backgrounds if you wish to cut out. Consider having students send snack selfies for additional images.
4. Out of the classroom What are students doing with all this extra time on their hands? What do they do when there’s no classes, clubs or sports? Include their board game playing, couch surfing, dog walking, hobbies and family time.
The Voyageur staff reached out to students via social media and Google forms to find out what they’re up. The resulting images became a quarantine spread in the upcoming 2020 Minnetonka High School yearbook.
5. Pets Our furry friends have benefitted more than anyone from the current state of the world. Ask students to share their photos, whether they are cute images, animal mischief or selfies. Consider having a separate sidebar for exotic pets, faculty submissions or yearbook staffers’ pets.
Cypress Creek High School, 2017
6. Virtual learning The phrases distance learning, remote learning and virtual instruction have become part of the coronavirus lexicon. Translate what that means for your students and school. Cover how your yearbook staff is communicating and finishing the book. Use social media to find out how students are studying and learning. Feature how your school is handling the transition.
7. Prom Seniors are stressed about postponed and canceled proms. Lighten that frustration with coverage in the book. Consider including quotes with a simple corsage or bow tie photo (see our Hightail page if you need an image. Scroll down past coronavirus images to see prom images.) Ask girls who already have their dress to send pictures modeling them.
8. Yearbook covers Feature the last 10, 20 or 50 years of yearbook covers. Share just the covers or provide history behind the theme choice.
Maclay School, 2019
Need pages with less photos?
For the above ideas, don’t feel you have to include a boatload of images. In some cases, a solo image or two to three will suffice. But if any of these topics overwhelm you, here are a few more ideas that don’t rely on crowdsourcing images.
9. Apps TikTok, Snapchap, YouTube, Instagram. Students love their apps. Feature the most popular ones, adding quotes if possible. Consider adding interesting facts and statistics. In 2019 alone, consumers downloaded more than 200 billion apps. That’s a lot of apps.
10. Binge watching Streaming television shows and movies is a popular pastime for most students. Feature students’ favorites or the most popular choices. Consider adding compelling data and statistics about top shows and usage (hours spent, mobile vs computer, binge-watching habits). Make sure to include quotes and/or polls if you run photos from the shows or movies; this strengthens the fair use argument. A better option is to photograph the shows on a mobile device, seeing the cell phone, tablet or laptop.
Rouse High School, 2019; Vista Ridge High School, 2015
11. School facts & quotes Consider an about the school page or spread. Feature a single picture of the school building, iconic spot or hallway. Add interesting facts and figures. Another option is to focus on sports or a specific class like the seniors.
Seven Lakes High School, 2019
12. Flow charts & quizzes Interactive coverage has been a staple of magazine journalism for years. They can be a fun way to involve the student body without needing a lot of photos. Consider connecting the flow chart or quiz to your theme, the coronavirus or just a fun topic: pets, style, introverts/extroverts, careers, etc.
13. Fill in the blank This is a favorite option for filling space without images. Ask questions connected to your theme, the year, classes, trends, school traditions, pop culture, or any topic you like.
Allen High School, 2018
14. Teacher autograph pages With the possibility of schools not returning to in-person instruction, it’s unlikely students and teachers will be able to autograph books. One unique idea, shared by Temecula Middle School, is to already include the comments. Reach out to faculty and staff members and ask what message they’d like to write to students. Use different colors and fonts to add them to a page or spread.
Temecula Middle School, 2020
15. Teacher letters to students With school closures, there’s been an outpouring of love and support for students, especially seniors. Educators around the country have written open letters to seniors, including these heartwarming ones from North Carolina teacher Jordan VanderLey and 2020 Louisiana Teacher of the Year Chris Dier. Consider asking a beloved teacher or multiple faculty members to pen their own letters. Maybe use a photograph of the school, a hallway, desk or school supplies for the background. (See our coronavirus visuals for a an elementary/middle school illustration and two school supply photos that can become full-bleed backgrounds.)
