The Colophon - Balfour Yearbooks Blog

Here's your end-of-the-year task list

Written by Kel Lemons | May 28, 2018 9:03:00 PM


Whether you have a few days left or another month (sorry, Pacific Northwest!), let’s check off that to-do list before trekking off to summer adventures.

Before the final bell rings, it’s helpful to have certain tasks knocked out to prepare for the next school year. Here’s an end-of-year checklist for spring and summer/fall books in our final Tuesday Tip of the school year.

Spring Books 

  • Schedule underclassmen and senior portraits with the school photographer.
  • Inventory yearbook supplies.
  • Devise a plan for handling books not picked up.
  • Meet with your rep to finalize the bill.
  • Meet with your bookkeeper to pay the bill.
  • Verify class rosters with the registrar.
  • Create a staff directory with students’ names, addresses, phone numbers and emails.
  • Plan summer staff activities including fun meet-ups, work days and photo assignments.
  • Submit summer workshop paperwork.
  • Renew memberships to state and national journalism organizations.
  • Submit the book for critiques and competitions.
  • Prepare and submit individual stories, designs and photos for contests.
  • Archive files, photos and pages.
  • Clean out files no longer needed.
  • Send equipment for repair.



Summer/Fall Books

  • Create a staff directory with students’ names, addresses, phone numbers and emails.
  • Assign coverage of final events to be included in the book like prom and graduation.
  • Plan summer staff work days and photo assignments.
  • Create the colophon, editor’s note and staff page.
  • Run the index.
  • Meet your rep to discuss the yearbook’s arrival and finances.
  • Create a distribution plan.
  • Submit summer workshop paperwork.
  • Renew memberships to state and national journalism organizations.
  • Prepare and submit completed stories, designs and photos for contests. (CSPA and NSPA both have June deadlines for individual awards.)
  • Verify class rosters with the registrar.
  • Clean out files no longer needed.
  • Send equipment for repair.

Whew! Done? Everything checked off? If not, hopefully there are a few days left to squeeze in a few more tasks. We really want you to have a chance to relax and recharge this summer. In the meantime, it’s been a fun year of Tuesday Tips. We hope the advice sparked new ideas and discussion for your yearbook staffs. We’ll chat with you again in August.

No limits this summer We couldn’t say goodbye without inviting you to “Limitless,” Balfour’s 2018 Adviser Workshop. It’s a fun weekend of training, networking and inspiration, July 13-16 in Grapevine, Texas. We hope to see you there!