By this point in the school year, many yearbook teams are deep in production, preparing for final submission. Pages have come together, photos have been collected, and deadlines are very close, too close! For some teams, there’s a nagging concern in the back of their mind: “We might be a little behind.”

No adviser ever says, “I wish we included less.” But every year, schools look back and think: “We should have covered that.” “I can’t believe we didn’t document that.” “I wish we had asked students about that moment.” By late February, most books are well underway, which makes this the perfect time to pause and ask: Are we capturing everything that matters? Schools often regret not including these 5 things:

Most yearbooks are done correctly. The deadlines are met. The pages are filled. The photos are clear. And yet years later, they sit untouched on a shelf. This is not because anyone failed, but because “good enough” does not create connection.