From time to time we feature Balfour advisers and schools. In this guest post, Landmark Christian School adviser Elizabeth Ervin shares how she turned the yearbook room into a creative and productive space. This is her second year advising and third year teaching. This post originally run in the Fall 2018 issue of Balfour’s Elements magazine
When I was a high school senior on the yearbook staff, my adviser took us to a workshop in Orlando where we visited a college campus with a journalism room. They had couches, recliners, and even a fridge for snacks. I thought, “Oh, yes, I could do some yearbooking in here!”
When I became a yearbook adviser, the first thing I asked was, “Where is my room?” I was shown a computer lab that also served as the yearbook room, posing the problem of cleaning up our mess every day. I asked for another option, possibly a room of our own. Remarkably, there was one available.
My first year, we had separate computer spaces, a conference table, a teacher desk and a million leftover yearbooks. Although the year was successful, the learning environment was not. I decided to make our yearbook setting a more comfortable space that would cultivate free and creative thinking.
The staff functions better in the relaxed setting. We treat yearbook as a small business. By offering a workspace that allows freedom of movement, with places to relax, the staff is more productive and creative.
Students were excited about and energized by the makeover. (I think the couch and the refrigerator were what really won them over.) By having a fridge stocked with snacks and a coffee pot providing caffeine, yearbook appeals to what students love most, food. (And to be honest, the coffee is for me.)
The process was pretty simple. Using folding tables for computers creates an open, spacious environment that promotes collaboration and communication. When staff members are closed off from each other, they are less productive. The more they work together, the better.
Couches frame our Yearbook Archive Wall which displays every Landmark Christian High School book. It’s a nostalgic reminder of the evolution of the Patriot. It also reminds the staff that yearbooks last.
The couches provide a designated space, away from production work, for staff meetings and brainstorming sessions. Because of its laid-back feel, students say they look forward to yearbook class every day. They interact, unwind, and then work more efficiently than they do in a typical classroom setting.
The posters that Balfour provides promote students with a constructive mindset for completing their work. “Eye tools,” like the ladder, font poster and color palette, help motivate and inform students.
My yearbook class feels more like a family and a working team in our room. Although not all advisers have the luxury of having a yearbook room, they can create a space within their classrooms for yearbook production. After all, some teachers have reading corners, so why not yearbook corners?
As educators, we train students to succeed in the world and it begins by creating the space for them to thrive.