Staffers: 5 Ways to Train a New Adviser
You’ve made it. You’ve been on the yearbook staff for a while now and you totally know the ropes. You can identify a dull caption from pages away, interview to get to the heart of the story, take a stellar action shot in low light and basically feel very confident to take on another year as a yerd when the unthinkable happens… you learn that you’re getting a new adviser!
Be open to change
Yes, you rocked the old system and you don’t understand why now each staffer needs to fill out an online request before checking out a camera, but I bet your adviser has a reason and it may turn out great. I knew very little about yearbook when I started, but I was pretty good at technology. Thus, this year we integrated augmented reality and joined HJ Plus One to offer our yearbook online. These seemed a little odd at first, but the staff and campus learned to love them.
Be willing to explain
Is your adviser trying to make a change that you know won’t work? Believe it or not, most advisers will succumb to the virtues of logic. Instead of just saying it won’t work, take the time to explain the logical ramifications. You have the experience, and they will listen, OR it will give them a chance to show how that they have considered these pitfalls and what their solutions are.
Don’t sweat the small stuff
I had no idea how to spell colophon let alone pronounce it when I started and I was sure I was being judged, but really… that’s small potatoes to the big picture. So if your adviser keeps insisting on the Oxford comma when you’ve never used it before… it’s probably not the best time to mutiny (though advisers, this isn’t really the big push you want to make either). If you focus on every small detail that seems weird, you will end up despising yearbook and your adviser!
Don’t compare
Your new adviser is never going to be the old adviser. They may be better. They may be worse. I can promise you they will DEFINITELY be different. If you continuously compare the two or expect them to do what the last one did, you’re in for a rough ride.
Learn their Starbucks® order
Kidding (kinda). But really, you’re going to spend a lot of time with this random adult. They should be making an effort to get to know you and your staff, and you should learn about them too. Whether you bond over never jumping on the Belieber train, or decide to have a Christmas cookie contest, seeing them as more than just a foreign entity will make everything run a lot smoother (and I strongly believe caffeine makes everything better).
So returning staff members — or new advisers — it’s really not as hard as it may feel at first. Keep the modes of communication wide open, be sure to listen to one another, and you’ll have (or become) a veteran adviser in no time. Good luck and happy yearbooking!
Mater Dei Catholic (CA) HS
Carissa Peck just finished her first year advising The Gauntlet at Mater Dei Catholic High School in San Diego. She dedicates her first yearbook to an amazing and tireless staff, her cat and caffeine.
- Staffers: 5 Ways to Train a New Adviser - June 20, 2017
