Ask Mike

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 [email protected] or [email protected], 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.