Ask Mike

In this episode, hosts Mike Taylor, Jim Jordan, and Sabrina Schmitz emphasize cultivating strong relationships among yearbook staff, administration, parents and the community. They share insights on team-building, communication with administrators, engaging parents and seeking mentorship from industry experts for journalistic excellence. Available on YouTube and podcast platforms.

Welcome to That Yearbook Podcast, the series where yearbook experts Mike Taylor, CJE, Jim Jordan and Sabrina Schmitz, CJE, take us on a delightful journey through their connections to yearbooks and the fascinating world of student journalism. The trio shares their unique stories and experiences that have shaped their perspectives on creating amazing yearbooks. To watch this podcast, visit our YouTube link!

We’re close to the end of the year now, and yearbook editors are preparing to hand over the torch to the next generation. In the latest episode of the Ask Mike podcast, host Mike Taylor chatted with Yvette and Gabbie, soon-to-graduate yearbook editors at Patricia E. Paetow High School in Katy, Texas. Both editors have been on yearbook staff since seventh grade. They call each other their best friend. And they, along with adviser Sara Gonzales, have helped create a supportive yearbook environment that allows their staff to thrive.

On March 29, thousands of high school students flooded the University of Missouri campus at Columbia for J-Day at Mizzou. J-Day is an annual tradition for the Missouri Interscholastic Journalism Association. In this week’s episode of the Ask Mike podcast, you can get a peek at what went on. Host Mike Taylor, CJE, interviewed scholastic journalism students from all over the state of Missouri. In addition to the life snippets from students, Taylor dropped some gems throughout the podcast. He shared his exuberance for the teaching profession with some advice. “Respect your teachers! And learn something!” He also shared a little bit about what it’s like to live in the same neighborhood as one of the most famous football players in the world. And be sure to listen all the way through the podcast to hear Mike swap dad jokes with his interviewees.

Cortney Wood is in her first year of advising yearbook at Chisholm Trail High School in Fort Worth, Texas. She’s new to advising but has experience working on yearbook staffs in high school and college. Copy editor Sydney Hawkins also joined the conversation. In this interview with host Mike Taylor, CJE, Cortney and Sidney share their experiences creating a yearbook in the 2023 school year.

As Anna, Halle and Gabby work to finish their yearbook, they're also preparing for a significant absence. Host Mike Taylor sat down with the three editors from Minnetonka, Minnesota, to discuss their roles in the yearbook team, their interests, and how they fill their time outside of yearbook. They share the the highs and lows of yearbook photography, event coverage, learning new software, and dealing with deadlines. The conversation also touches on the good relationship the yearbook staff has with the school administration and how they have earned their trust.

In this episode, taped live from Elite Weekend in Orlando, Mike sits down with the editors of Boone High School to discuss their yearbook.

In this episode, Mike chats with Faith Parksinson, Editor-in-chief at A. W .Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida. Their chat comes fresh off an Elite Weekend they both attended, and Mike and Faith discuss what was learned in the busy three days in Orlando.

This week, Mike Taylor is in a different part of North Carolina as he continues his interviews from all over the country. In this episode, Mike speaks to Adviser Lynn Bare and the staff of the Southern Alamance High School yearbook. The Southerner’s Editor-in-Chief Noel, Assistant Editor Kinley, Sports Editor Lexie, Business Manager Emma, and staffers Xander, Abigail, Maddie, Giselle, Adriana and Lexie chat with Mike about all kinds of things. They share how they try to bring as much of their school culture and “what makes us us” into the book every year, like coverage of the strong FFA program at their school. They discuss challenges they’ve faced in recent years. Their business manager discusses selling books, senior tributes and business ads, connecting with the community, and dealing with the occasional difficult customer. And they share their favorite teambuilding activities – and one involves marshmallows and spaghetti.

Ask Mike is traveling the country this season! The last episode was from Maine, and for episode two Mike traveled south to North Carolina to talk to staff members from Athens Drive Magnet School. Co-editors-in-chief Zoe and Greta and Head of Design Nevaeh shared their thoughts on creating a yearbook for the 2022/2023 year.

Ask Mike is back! This season, host Mike Taylor will chat with yearbook staffs all over the United States, starting with Presque Isle, Maine, in the far northeast corner of the country. Listen in to hear about the 2023 yearbook plans for Presque Isle High School, ideas for coverage that you can use, and more information about potatoes than you'd expect in a yearbook podcast.

“Every book that has ever been done at Northwest, if you’ll go look at it you’ll find the fingerprints, the thumbprints, of everyone on this podcast,” yearbook adviser Susan Massy shared early on in the latest episode of the Ask Mike podcast, explaining the importance of having a yearbook family. In this episode, host Mike Taylor talks to five of the yearbook advisers who made the top 10 of the National Scholastic Press Association's Pacemaker 100 list. In first place in the Pacemaker Top 10 is the Lair yearbook program at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee, Kansas. Susan Massy has been the adviser for the last 36 yearbooks. In the program’s history, they have won an impressive total of 23 Pacemakers and three Pacemaker finalists. Jim Jordan was the adviser behind 35 volumes of the Decamhian yearbook at Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks, California. The Fair Oaks yearbook program was named second, with 20 Pacemakers and seven Pacemaker finalists. Crystal Kazmierski retired from her position as the adviser of Wings at Arrowhead Christian Academy in Redlands, California, after the 2017 school year. Their yearbook program placed third, with 22 Pacemakers and two Pacemaker finalists. Becky Tate, CJE, is the yearbook adviser at Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park, Kansas. Their program came in fourth in the Pacemaker Top 10, with a total win of 18 Pacemakers and four Pacemaker finalists. Dow Tate is the current adviser of the Hauberk yearbook at Shawnee Mission East High School in Prairie Village, Kansas. Their program tied for ninth with 15 Pacemakers and five Pacemaker finalists.

In this extra special episode, Ask Mike and Yearbook Chat with Jim team up to talk about promoting your yearbook! Hosts Mike Taylor, CJE, and Jim Jordan are joined by three members of the Walsworth marketing team, Jenica Hallman, CJE, Jimmy Gilligan and Sarah Scott. They share tips for writing press releases, ideas for promoting your yearbook, and why you want to promote your 2021 yearbook more than ever before! Listen to the episode, then share your marketing with us! Send press releases to mike.taylor@walsworth.com or jim.jordan@walsworth.com, and be sure to tag Walsworth Yearbooks in any social media promotions you post. We would love to share your work. Find us on Instagram @walsworthyearbooks, Twitter @yearbookforever, and Facebook.

In honor of Scholastic Journalism Week and the importance of diversity and inclusion in scholastic journalism, host Mike Taylor, CJE, has a very special episode today! Listen in to hear Mike talk with June Straight, from El Paso, Texas, and Dennis Wade, from Ohio, about diversity and inclusion. This episode is tough, but important for yearbook staffs to listen to. As a bonus, when yearbooks become more inclusive, they often see a boost in sales!

How did are they doing it? All over the country, yearbook staffs are stepping up and making amazing yearbooks in the middle of a pandemic that has displaced almost everything about the school year. The yearbook program at Indian Trail High School in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is one of those who is making the most of their incredible year. Listen in to hear host Mike Taylor, CJE, chat with adviser Michelle Corbett, staff member Kalea Lamphier, and Walsworth sales rep Erin Grunnet about how they’re working to make the best book their yearbook program has ever done. Listen to this special New Year’s Eve episode as we all transition our yearbook coverage from 2020 to 2021! And be sure to stick around to hear the story about how Kalea interviewed iconic journalist Deborah Roberts for her first ever story.

In this episode, host Mike Taylor speaks with two schools in the northeast part of the country, one from New Hampshire and one from Pennsylvania. The adviser and Editor-in-chief from St, Thomas Aquinas in Dover, New Hampshire, share how they're using this opportunity to make a yearbook different from anything they've done before. Two editors from Eastern Lebanon County High School in Pennsylvania share how they're organizing and getting the book done, even though they aren't in the building together.

Ask Mike | Host Mike Taylor, CJE, begins the new season by interviewing two editors-in-chief as they start their new year. As you may have guessed from the episode title, one resides on the east coast and the other on the west coast. Neri Verniani, from Oviedo High School in Oviedo, Florida, and David Dablo from El Camino Real Charter School in Los Angeles, California, share how they're guiding their yearbook staff to create the 2021 yearbook under extraordinary conditions.

Think back to early March. It may seem a lifetime ago, though in reality it was only a couple of weeks. School was still in session. There was no quarantine. No one thought to wear facemasks, and toilet paper could be easily found on the well-stocked shelves of your nearest supermarket. It was during this time that Mike Taylor, CJE, went to visit our Level Up winner, Meridian High School, for their first in-person visit on a cold Thursday afternoon.

Happy Valentine’s Day! This is the time of year when the Walsworth Yearbooks Podcast Network celebrates love in all its forms – especially the love of yearbook! In this episode, host Mike Taylor, CJE, interviewed four yearbook staffs about why they love yearbook. He spoke to the staffs of Braden River High School in Bradenton, Florida; Liberty North High School in Liberty, Missouri; Kearney High School in Kearney, Missouri; and Lee’s Summit High School in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

Some of the work being done by middle school and junior high yearbook staffs is absolutely amazing. That’s why host Mike Taylor sat down with the yearbook staffs of Carl Albert Middle School and Cactus Canyon Junior High to discuss what they’re doing right, what they’re working on, and what will happen when they move on to high school.