AI for Yearbooks: Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Sales Success — Webinar Recap

Jessica Carrera
Oct 3
2 min read

AI for yearbooks webinar presentation by United Yearbook

On September 23, we hosted a webinar to explore one of the most important questions in education right now:

How can we use AI in yearbook creation without losing student ownership, creativity, and critical thinking?

The conversation was both inspiring and practical, and here’s a quick look at what we covered.

Why AI Matters in Yearbook Creation

Yearbooks are more than just books; they are student legacies. But between theme brainstorming, layout design, proofreading, photo sorting, and marketing, the process can overwhelm even the most dedicated adviser and staff.

This is where AI can make a difference. When used responsibly, AI can:

Save time by handling repetitive tasks such as proofreading spreads.
Spark ideas by suggesting captions, headlines, or creative directions students might not have thought of yet.
Support sales efforts with personalized messaging and campaign ideas.

The key takeaway? AI should never replace the student voice; instead, it should empower students to be expressive, creative, and relevant in their work, making the yearbook truly their own.

Highlights from the Webinar

Here are just a few of the topics that resonated with attendees:

AI in Marketing: How AI can assist with creating captions, taglines, and social media campaigns that drive yearbook sales to students and parents.
Student Ownership: A framework for keeping critical thinking and authentic school culture at the center of every AI-assisted task.
Practical Examples: Real-world demonstrations showing how AI can draft ideas — and how students can refine them into something uniquely “theirs.”

Adviser’s Biggest Takeaway

When balanced correctly, AI is not about shortcuts; it’s about opportunities. It helps yearbook teams:

Spend less time on busywork
Generate fresh ideas faster
Build stronger marketing campaigns
Focus more on telling the authentic story of their school year

Want to receive the webinar recording and AI positive use checklist? Let us know through the form linked here.

Image of Jessica Carrera, a United Yearbook representative.

Contributor: Jessica Carrera, Associate Editor at TSE Worldwide Press and Marketing Coordinator at United Yearbook, holds a B.A. in English with a concentration in writing from Biola University. She aspires to touch the lives of others through her words.

Editor: Donna Ladner obtained a B.A. in Education and a minor in English from California Baptist University, and a M.S. in ESL from USC, Los Angeles. After she married Daniel, their family moved to Indonesia with a non-profit organization and lived cross-culturally for 15 years before returning to the U.S in 2012. Donna has been working as an editor and proofreader for TSE Worldwide Press and its subsidiary, United Yearbook since 2015.