The yearbook staff at J.W. Mitchell High in Port Richey, Fla., developed a theme for their 2012 book that used an old theater term “Play The Pause.”

It was an interesting, creative theme that the staff put a lot of thought and development into. That’s why they figured it would be a good idea to make a YouTube video explaining the theme, including interviews with the thoughts of students and faculty members.

The staff played the video on yearbook distribution day, so as students picked up their book they could watch the video and get an idea exactly what “Play The Pause” was all about. Take a look at the video below…

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s that crazy-yet-magical time of year – time for yearbooks to be distributed into the excited hands of the students who can’t wait to see themselves and their friends.

The checklist below was created to help you plan and host the most problem-free distribution event ever.

Best of luck with yearbook distribution!

Distribution Event Checklist

It’s fun to look back on quotes in the yearbook. Those words of wisdom usually offer great perspective a few years down the road. Or in many cases, some great laughs.

At TheAtlantic.com, they comprised a gallery of yearbook images and quotes from some famous celebrities.

If you get the chance to put a quote in your yearbook, what will you write for the ages?

For more than five decades, the statue of the Horse Tamer has stood in front of Roslyn High School in East Hills, N.Y.

As this article from Newsday.com recounted, the well-known marble statue went through wear and tear over the years, losing various pieces before finally being moved to go through a restoration project recently. That’s when the Roslyn yearbook staff, with the help of their Walsworth yearbook rep John St. Pierre, came up with an idea to include a bit of the statue in the 2012 yearbook.

While watching work crews secure the statue for its move to begin restoration in February, St. Pierre got the idea for grinding part of the old statue up and using the dust in the ink used to create the Roslyn yearbook.

St. Pierre told Newsday the inspiration came from a 2008 yearbook Walsworth did for the University of Notre Dame, which used pieces of gold from the school’s iconic dome.

Now, the 2012 Roslyn yearbook is being marketed as having a little “Horse Tamer history.”

Do you love yearbooks as much as the yearbook staff at Ashley High School in Wilmington, N.C.?

Ashley yearbook adviser Katie Barsaleau recently attended one of Walsworth’s Show-Me Seminars in Kansas City, and really liked the “I heart YBK” logo that can be seen on Walsworth’s Facebook page and on buttons and stickers the company hands out.

So when Barsaleau returned home, she and the staff decided to paint the logo on their yearbook room wall. Now that is some yearbook love!

Do you have anything creative painted on your yearbook room wall?

Some ambitious volunteers with the Liberty Historical Society in Liberty, Ill., have been working on a project to scan old yearbooks from the Liberty School District and make them available for viewing online.

As reported by local newspaper the Quincy Herald-Whig, the Historical Society volunteers have gone as far back as yearbooks from 1942 with this project, preserving the books in case anything ever happens to the originals.

Project volunteer Bill Waters told the newspaper that the old yearbooks can be a valuable resource for students interested in studying their local history.

“They can talk about something happening in the ‘20s and look at pictures from the yearbook of the time from their own community. Even the ads are useful,” Waters said. “There are things you don’t normally think of in yearbooks besides faces, names and classes. It’s interesting, and it spurs a lot of conversation.”

The view from Seattle's Columbia Tower Club during Walsworth's Adviser Appreciation Dinner (Photo by Susan Massy)

Take a look at the scenery the guests got a chance to see this past Saturday night at Walsworth’s Adviser Appreciation Dinner in Seattle.

At each JEA/NSPA Convention, Walsworth hosts its adviser dinner. This past weekend’s event was held at the Columbia Tower Club, overlooking the Puget Sound and downtown Seattle.

Needless to say, as the photo evidence proves, the view from the 76th floor where dinner was served was breathtaking.

“We do not remember days; we remember moments.” – Cesare Pavese

Yearbook Zen is a new weekly series in the Yearbooks Blog that will give you simple, practical tips for creating yearbooks, along with a dose of encouragement to keep you inspired all year long. At Walsworth, we are committed to giving you the best experience in yearbooks – and a little wisdom.

Hi! My name is Alex Blackwell. I work in Walsworth’s marketing department, but almost a lifetime ago I was also a yearbook adviser. Meeting deadlines, balancing a budget, and managing a staff were essential to doing my job. I understand the challenges you face, and I know what resources you need to make your job a little easier.

If you have a spring-delivery yearbook, then most of you are getting ready for yearbook distribution day or getting an early start on the 2013 yearbook. Fall-delivery customers are probably busy with getting pages completed and proofs reviewed. No matter when your yearbooks ship, all of you have one important thing in common – you are providing immeasurable and lasting value for your school, its community, and your students.

As I approach the dreaded 50-year-old mark, I don’t remember days as much as I do the moments. Thinking back to high school, I don’t remember if Pam Creef agreed to go to the Winter Ball with me on a Monday or on a Tuesday. I just remember the moment when Pam and I walked into the dance, together. And it isn’t because my memory is stellar, it’s because I have my yearbook to remind me.

I know there’s still more work to be done before you can put a button on the 2012 yearbook, but while you are busy completing these remaining tasks, remember this: You have one of the most important jobs at your school, not because of deadlines or budgets, but  because you are making sure your students can remember their moments, too – even when they are approaching 50.

Improve your stories by getting great quotes with a technique used by psychiatrists.

That was just one of the great interviewing tips from the session, “Improving your copy: writing articles, not essays,” given at the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle on Saturday, April 14.

The presenter, Whitney Moore, a Walsworth yearbook sales representative in Maryland, told the students and advisers in her session to say this statement and question: Tell me more about that, and, how did that make you feel? Saying them in a low, even tone like the clichéd psychiatrist brought a laugh from the crowd.

The tip was in response to a question about getting information out of sources who give short answers. Great quotes are an essential part of a story, which Moore defined as a moment in time or a snapshot, versus an essay, which is usually a group of facts that prove a point.

Moore also said students who want to become good writers need to read. She said she reads the blog by writer Jeff Goins, which can be found at goinswriter.com.

Hey convention attendees: you have nothing but opportunity in the the field of journalism.

That’s according to Jennifer Sizemore, who oversees the global editorial staffs of MSNBC.com and TODAY.com. In her keynote address to the Spring JEA/NSPA National Scholastic Journalism Convention in Seattle Thursday night, she told the Milleniums they are more diverse, wired, mobile and online than previous generations. She reminded them that they constantly consume information from all types of electronic devices — smartphones for starters — from many sources, and she said anyone who claims to know what technology holds for the future of journalism is wrong.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen… and that’s exhilariating,” Sizemore said.

She said as members of this generation, teen journalists will be successful as long as they understand what type of content their peers want and how to deliver it to them.

In keeping with the JEA/NSPA convention theme, Journalism on the Edge, Sizemore started and ended her speech with a quote from Justin Francese of Rough Mountain Studios: “If you are not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much room.”

Questions for the Q&A session after the speech were taken from the audience and from Twitter.

Thursday morning was sunny in Seattle, and many advisers and staffs arriving for the convention spent the morning sightseeing before heading to registration, the exhibit hall and sessions. At the Walsworth booth, the Whamboozal game was in full swing, and the light sticks given as prizes were held up as rap artist Gabriel Santos performed prior to the Sizemore’s address.