The home of Mind the Gutter, a Yearbook Podcast

Pete LeBlanc is our guest on this week’s episode. Nelson and Hayley learn about how Pete’s career has evolved from its roots in sports coverage into an 11-year tradition of award-winning yearbooks at Antelope High School in Antelope, California. You’ll also hear his take on the most pressing problems facing students, and the teachers who care for them, in today’s classrooms.

You know those people who always seem to have everything figured out? They may claim to be a hot mess, but you know better. Heather Nagel is one of those people in the yearbook world. As the adviser for Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville, she produces the most amazing books and has editors who could run a major corporation with ease. What’s her secret? Well, it’s intentional.

On this week’s episode of Mind the Gutter, we sit down with the adviser and staffers from Classical Academy High School. We speak with first-year adviser Barak Smith about his year and what new advisers should know before they start yearbooking. Then, we chat with four staffers from the Chronicle about their Impact Award-winning spread on mental health.

Annie Gorenstein Falkenberg is our guest on this week’s episode of Mind the Gutter. Annie chats with Nelson and Hayley about saving a program on the brink of collapse, taking the time to create and what constitutes a school tradition. She also gives advice to editors and advisers on how to become better leaders.

Caroline Mattox knows a thing or two about yearbooks. Finishing her eighth book, Mattox has compiled a laundry list of advice for high schoolers that ranges from life advice to working with a new adviser. She also shares how an attitude can help form a yearbook theme. Want to learn more about Caroline? Check out Folio magazine.

On this episode, Nelson and Hayley chat with Sarah Kirskey, the adviser from Ladue Horton Watkins High School. Sarah shares her staff’s five-week planning, production and design cycle, which we love. She also discusses how to get the best solutions out of tough situations, looking locally for inspiration and why she loves journalism so much.

Jayna Rumble is our newest #YBKCrush. The sixth-year adviser at Troy High School in Michigan gives her tips for recruitment, what she wants her new students to learn in the first 90 days and the age old question of what comes first: Theme or voice.

In this conversation, Hayley and Nelson chat with Makena Busch adviser at Mead High School. Makena shares her expertise as a graphic designer and photographer to help staffs focus on getting dominant photography and pulling inspiration from Pinterest.

This week’s guest on Mind the Gutter is Kathy Habiger. In our chat, we discuss adviser/rep relationships, creating a book that is student driven and her deadly journalism sins. Check out Kathy Habiger’s journalism commandments PowerPoint.

Angela St. Clair has the light we all wish we had. With gratitude, we present our newest episode with the adviser from Mater Dei High School. In this conversation, we discuss living in the present, being the light in the world and the importance of writing thank you notes.

On our season two premiere, we chat with the legendary Mary Kay Downes from Chantilly High School. We discuss working past rejection, conducting school-wide surveys and celebrating advisers as superheroes.

Beth Ward and Devon Swale join Steve Kent to talk Square One, Pat Conroy’s “A Yearbook is a Love Letter,” and the first time Beth’s staff made a national list. Plus, Hayley is showered with love from her former adviser.

Meet Morgan Miltner. She knows a thing or two about making and marketing a yearbook. And, she knows a lot about showing tiny-town kids the world.

Get ready for fall convention season with Pat Hinman, who has attended a few herself. We talk about her legacy as a middle school adviser and how her roles have changed in a secondary school. And Ann Akers pops in for a chat about JEA Chicago.