ALBANIAN STAFF MANUAL

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

PURPOSE OF THE YEARBOOK:

The first goal of the Albanian is to honor the graduating seniors and their accomplishments with individual pages, pages from family and friends, and other features. The yearbook seeks to encapsulate the major events of their careers at St. Albans and to paint a picture of their collective experience as a class. Although the Albanian focuses predominantly on the senior class, it also includes freshman, sophomores, and juniors. Above all, the Albanian is a lasting and tangible reminder of a year in the life of Saint Albans School.

HANDLING SENSITIVE ISSUES:

The Albanian is an inclusive yearbook. In past years, however, it has included material that aimed to be humorous but came off as offensive in the end. This year, we hope to continue the tradition of humor but not at personal expense. The advisors and editors reserve the right to censor the content of the senior pages as well as the rest of the yearbook.

ADVERTISING POLICY:

Before the school year, the staff of the Albanian sent out a letter to the parents of the senior class offering additional space at the end of the yearbook for best wishes and congratulations and asking for donations. We will continue to ask parents for donations throughout the year and will sell any leftover space to local advertisers. We also plan to hold a dance to cover additional costs.

STAFF DISMISSAL:

We will not be ambiguous on the issue of staff dismissal. If you fail to honor your commitments on a regular basis, you will be cut from the staff. However, we are sympathetic to academic and athletic pressures and will try to find someone else to complete the work if you give us enough forewarning. Always keep in contact with your editor so that your work is relevant and useful for publication.

Staff Selection and Function

Staff list/chain of command:

Organization Structure

Staffing Needs We are looking for dependable, highly-motivated students who have attention to detail & the ability to work well with individuals and groups and the ability to plan ahead and complete tasks.

All Yearbook staff members must have the time and the willingness to produce the best yearbook possible that represents the entire upper school. One goal that we would like to encourage is for the staff to consider pursuing a yearbook award through the National or American Scholastic Press Association. In order to do this, students will have to take initiative to manage the yearbook in such a way to bring it to an award-winning caliber publication.

Description of Positions

Head Editorial Staff

Students in the head editorial staff work with the advisors to decide on the content, form and spirit of the book, including what will or will not end up in the final yearbook product. They are ultimately responsible for every aspect of the product and the actions of the entire yearbook staff. The Editorial staff will set the standards for the book and will approve every page before it is submitted to the publishers.

Editor in Chief

The Editor In Chief is responsible for the visualization, organization and execution of the entire yearbook. The EIC will set policy and guidelines for the entire yearbook. The EIC will work closely with the faculty advisors, the Layout Editor, and Photo Editor to make sure that the book stays on schedule and remains a product that every member of the STA community is proud of. The EIC will work with, and “manage”, all section editors to make sure that each section “fits” in the yearbook.

The EIC will check all pages for errors and consistency before submissions, also making sure that each page in the yearbook lives up to the standards and guidelines set by the EIC and faculty advisors.

Design/Layout Editor

The Design/Layout Editor, is responsible for (among other things) setting policy and guidelines for the layout within the yearbook and checking over all pages before submission, giving the book a consistent look. He will help all the section editors be creative with the layout of their sections, as well as ensuring that all the sections are designed so that the look professional when they come together.

Photo Editor

The Photo Editor is responsible for (among other things) setting policy and guidelines for all photos within the yearbook and checking over all pages before submission, giving the book a consistent look for all photography. The Photo Editor is also responsible for working with the Section Editors to ensure that all necessary photographs are taken and are of sufficient quality to be made a part of the book.

Section Editors

People Editor

The People Editor is responsible for organizing the Faculty and underclassmen portions of the yearbook – making sure all the faculty and students at STA are represented in the book and being creative with each grade (except the seniors), showing off and highlighting things that happen in that grade with the candid sections. The People Editor is also responsible for assigning photographers to capture all important school events as well as a variety of candid photographs for use throughout the entire yearbook.

Seniors Editor

The Form 6 Editor is responsible for organizing his classmates to finish their senior pages on time (according to the deadlines set up by the EIC and faculty advisors). In addition, he will be responsible for managing the completion of the “Senior Magazine” – the fun section for the seniors. This DOES NOT imply that he is responsible for creating all the pages himself, and in fact he is encouraged to coordinate and delegate the effort of the senior magazine to several other seniors

Clubs Editor

The Clubs Editor is responsible for organizing the clubs and activities portion of the yearbook – making sure all, and only, the legitimate clubs at STA are represented in the book and have a good picture and write-up as well as being creative with the section and trying to find the best way to show off the clubs and what they do.

Arts Editor

The Arts Editor is responsible for expanding the Arts section of the yearbook to make sure that all drama, music, art work, etc of the school are represented in the yearbook. The Arts Editor would be in charge of the layout of this section of the book and working with the Design Editor to make sure it fits in with the style of the entire book. The Arts Editor is also explicitly responsible, in conjunction with the Photo Editor, for ensuring that all arts work and art shows are captured by high-quality photographs for inclusion in the book. In addition, the Arts Editor should try to find ways to incorporate student art throughout the book.

Sports Editor

The Fall (or Winter or Spring) Sports Editor is responsible for organizing the fall/winter/spring sports section of the yearbook. During the other sports seasons, he will help the other Sports Editors complete their sections and ensure that the entire sports section of the yearbook flows together nicely.

Parents (Remembrances) Editor

The Ads (Remembrances) Editor is responsible for organizing the ads section in the yearbook - advertising to and working with parents & friends to “sell” the pages, scheduling the due dates and organizing how the pages will get done, etc.

General Staff (Yearbook Club)

Students who are part of the general staff will receive assignments from the head editorial staff or section editors. Students may choose to only work on one specific section of the book or to contribute to all sections, pitching in to help with whatever is most critical at a given time. All Staff will receive deadlines for their work and should turn in their work by the deadline to the editor who assigned the work. If you can’t make your deadline, please notify your editor as soon as you realize that you can’t make the deadline.

Photography Staff

Photography Staff will take pictures for the yearbook. All yearbook pictures must be 3 megapixels or higher in resolution. Any pictures that are scanned in must be 300 dpi or higher resolution. If you are covering a specific event as a yearbook photographer, please make sure that you get many shots of a variety of different people so that we have many options to choose from. Do not just take pictures of your friends.

Writing Staff

Writing Staff will try to tell a story in the yearbook – each section of the yearbook should try to capture the spirit and feeling of some aspect of the school. The writing staff should feel free to be creative and interview students or faculty and really have the yearbook reflect a year in the life of STA. Since a yearbook has a very long “shelf-life” the writing should be clear and inclusive of the whole community. Jokes or references that may not be known to the whole community or may be prone to being forgotten in a year should not be included, or should be explained within the text to give context.

Design & Layout Staff

The layout staff will pull the yearbook together and give it a professional look & feel. Gathering inspiration from magazines, newspapers, other yearbooks, webpages, etc., the layout staff will organize the photographs, articles, captions, artwork, etc., on a page using InDesign. They will be creative in organizing the space, using good design principles and will check with Section Editors and the Layout Editor to make sure the book is consistent. Yearbook Information

Major Sections in the Yearbook

People: Students and Faculty Senior pages Academics/Arts Life at STA (major school events) Clubs Arts Sports (Fall, Winter, Spring) Parent Ads (Remembrances) Staff Contract

As a member of the 2005-2006 Albanian staff, I agree to abide by the following contract provisions:

1. I accept my position as a professional responsibility, to be guided by The Albanian Yearbook Manual. 2. I understand that attendance at all staff meetings is imperative. 3. I am familiar with my job description, and I will fulfill my staff responsibilities to the best of my ability. 4. I am aware of the importance of deadlines. I am further aware that my missing a deadline not only affects me, but the rest of the staff as well. Therefore, I will do everything in my power to meet all deadlines – whether the editors, the advisers, or the publishing company sets them. 5. I understand that the nature of publications is that the focus of our priorities change and the pace of the workload is unpredictable. Therefore, I understand that I must be flexible and willing to respond to assignments as appropriate. 6. My behavior will reflect the highest journalistic and personal standards. I will uphold the rules and policies of St Albans School. 7. I realize the failure to carry out the obligations set forth here and in the Albanian handbook could result in dismissal from the staff. MARKETING AND BUSINESS

Although many of the business specifications have already been taken care of, like sending letters to parents asking for contributions and ad-page sales, there are some aspects that should be spelled out clearly to all of the staff so that they are all on the same page (no pun intended):

PRE-SELLING/ADDITION OF COLOR PAGES

Color is the most costly proposed addition to our yearbook this year. In order to include either 8 or 16 pages of full color, we will need a budget increase of a couple hundred dollars. To ensure that we will not run into a deficit, we need to hype up and pre- sell the yearbook, in order to ensure that we will sell enough copies. Ideally, we can sell a copy to each member of the student body; however, in the past, only about half have purchased the book. Also, the color prices increase the later the pages are turned in. Therefore, the more color we want to add, the sooner the pages have to be in. The deadlines for color pages are absolutely rigid and we ask that you all cooperate to complete the pages in a timely fashion. If we all work together efficiently, we can produce an outstandingly sexy yearbook. This year, the selling procedures are going to be significantly different. In the past, we have sold all of the books at the end of the year, at a cost of $50 whenever you were to purchase it. This year, however, we are going to start selling the yearbooks in September, in order to ensure that we have a large enough budget for color. The advance purchase price will be $50 like usual. But, if people decide to buy them later in the year, after our pre-sale, then they will have to pay $75. We hope that this price gap will be large enough to convince people to buy their yearbook early and give us a good idea of where we stand financially.

DEADLINES

As mentioned above, deadlines need to be met promptly. Late pages will usually cost more, something we really cannot afford this year if we plan to be graphically ambitious. Although under extenuating circumstances, we can allow for late pages, we do ask that each staff members try his best to turn them in on a prompt basis. THIS APPLIES TO ALL STAFF MEMBERS. Even if you are not personally responsible for the production of a whole page, you must meet the deadlines of your editor. You may be terminated should you consistently fail to meet your obligations. NEEDS WORK

SECTION STYLESHEETS

ALL SECTIONS

Although our aim is to have unity and consistency in presentation of the different sections, each individual section will have unique design elements.

THEME PAGES

At the beginning of each section, we will have a divider which will be one of the most visually stimulating pages. Although we have not finalized any layouts, our current ideas involve super-oversize fonts as well as special photos arrangements and theme building. Our theme pages will include (believe it or not) THE YEARBOOK THEME, which has been outlined in another section. Staff writers will draft short compositions about how the themes pertain to the different individual domains, like sports or academics.

YEARBOOK SPECIFICATIONS

Yearbook theme

This year, we are going to in include a theme. This theme will be present all throughout the yearbook. The theme consists of the five points stressed by our school’s prefects. They are: honor, community, commitment, spirit, and openness.

Yearbook ladder

See excel spreadsheet for final form.