A Yearbook is a Love Letter

STAFF MATTERS

Pat Conroy once said, “A yearbook is a love letter a school writes to itself.” How is a yearbook a love letter, you might ask? The better question is: how is a yearbook not a love letter? A quick web search tells me that a “love letter” is a way to express feelings of love in written form. The letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation of feelings. Love letters may move through the widest range of emotions — devotion, disappointment, grief and indignation, self confidence, ambition, etc.

The yearbook captures all of these emotions and more through storytelling, one-on-one interviews and emotion-packed photos that in turn, stir the readers’s emotions and make them feel. When a staff works to get each and every student in the book, it’s a love letter addressed to all of them — one they will open again and again to relive the moments of the year; to share those moments with their children and spouses one day; to laugh with high school friends and their kids one day. What an amazing thing your staff is creating!

Celebrate the love today and going forward. We hope this video and Pat Conroy’s words remind you time and time again that this project is massively important, incredibly meaningful and will last forever. Don’t lose sight of why you’re doing what you’re doing. The stress level in your staff room might be high today, but the payoff is on its way! Stay motivated and remember that you’ll soon get to relish in all your hard work. How priceless will it be to look back on the memories that you worked to capture for the students in your school and in the community?

The yearbook truly is a love letter… don’t forget that.

Yearbook is a Love Letter lesson plan

Full video transcript