The "The Yearbooks Have Arrived To An Anxious Crowd!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Trying to figure how many yearbooks I have produced for the students of the Manheim Township School District since I first began working on them.  I began teaching at MT in 1967 and that first year (would have been the 1968 yearbook) I didn't help with the yearbook.  The following year I began my position as adviser to the yearbook and the 1969 yearbook was my first production.  By the time  I retired in 1999 I had produced 31 high school yearbooks.  When I retired I asked the high school principal if he needed help the following year with the yearbook.  He declined my offer, telling me he wanted to get someone on staff to do it.  I understood.  The following day the principal at the Middle School called and asked if I would be interested in doing the Middle School yearbook.  Wow!  I began the Middle School yearbook and the 2000 edition was my first.  Since that time I have done 19 Middle School Yearbooks.  The Middle School held grades 6, 7 and 8.  In 2012 the school district opened the Landis Run Intermediate School which was for grades 5 and 6.  It was necessary to relieve the overcrowding in the Middle School.  I got a call and was asked to do the Landis Run book.  Since that time I have done 6 books for that school.  So when I add them all together I have completed 56 yearbooks.  The High School book was always over 200 pages, but I had quite a bit of help with a staff and another adviser.  The Middle School and Intermediate School books each have 64 pages, but I do them by myself.  It requires taking candid shots, administration photos, sports teams, clubs and organization photos, developing a cover and having that done and laying out the book on the Josten's Yearbook Company's website after uploading all my information to their site.  I begin the book in early September and must have it done by early February.  

This is the Middle School yearbook which is opened so you can
see the front and back.  The art teacher, Lauren, helped
me with the design of the cover by having her students make
the cover.  Click to enlarge.

So why do I continue producing yearbooks for the district?  I enjoy being part of the school community and it keeps me young.  The students love to have their photos taken and when they see me walking the halls or showing up for a group photo, they are excited.  Just makes you feel alive as well.  I must admit that I have produced very few perfect yearbooks.  Always seems to be a photo with a wrong name under it or a name misspelled.  Years ago the company rep told me there has NEVER been a perfect yearbook.  Well, so far this year I have not heard of any mistakes.  Doesn't mean there aren't any, just that no one has found it yet or hasn't told the school about it.  I do fear I will sometime make a mistake that may upset someone, but that doesn't keep me from starting the next book.  

This is the Intermediate School yearbook cover.  I couldn't
find help in-house with the cover, so this is one of many
yearbook company covers I had the option to use.

I now am taking photos of students whose grand- parents were on my high school yearbook staffs when I first started.  Life can be fun and this is the way I make it fun for me.  Well, this year's books have been successfully distributed and in a few months I will begin the Middle School and Landis Run books once again.  I have included samples of the covers from this years books for you to see.  Both books were hardbound books, printed in black and white.  The school district wishes to have black and white so when they enter high school, and get a color yearbook, it will be more special.  Funny, but when I did the high school book, they were mostly black and white due to the high cost at the time of producing a color yearbook.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.