<p>Our older child never got a yearbook until Senior year…so I didn’t know how common it was until I saw the yearbook. Pages, 1/2’s or quarters dedicated to at least 1/2 of the class. If I do it for child 2, I will artfully list all of child’s K-12 teachers, with a big “THANK YOU”. May or may not include picture of child…</p>
<p>Did one for D1, it was a surprise for her and I think she liked it. I hate those “we’re so proud of you and the person you have become…” type quotes, so I used a couple verses from a song we share a liking for (Uncle John’s Band). I will not do one for my S as he will not care in the least. I’m sure D2 will though. I think maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the families do an eighth, quarter, or half page ad.</p>
<p>Took out the ad for $250, but the yearbook was free! hahahaha</p>
<p>Our school used to do them, but stopped after our son’s year. They were great, but very expensive and probably not fair to families who couldn’t really afford the extravagance. Still, I was sorry that they stopped the practice because I’d known what song lyrics I would use when it was my daughter’s turn forever and now don’t get to use them!</p>
<p>Well, the younger HS boy created a digital full page (about 8 pics in different sizes) for his older brother the Senior. The cost was around $100. He created fabulous graphic brushes for the edges and I picked out some terrific pictures from the past. No sentiments actually, but some really terrific quotes and one in Latin about truth! It was great fun. And I plan on taking this digital image and having posters made for the grandparents.</p>
<p>Did a full page ad/collage for both D & S, with a 1 - 2 line “inspirational” quote that fit her/him. I then got the actual collage back (it was scanned in for printing), put it in an 8x10 frame, and gave it as a graduation present. Both loved them.</p>
<p>For D, parents were given the opportunity to take an ad with one early childhood picture and some wording, but there was no choice of sizes. The yearbook staff arranged all the ads eight on a page (varying from horizontal to vertical to make the layout more interesting). So there was no one-upmanship. I do not recall the precise price, but am confident it was somewhere in the $25 - $50 range (in 2002). Reading some of the comments above, I am glad all the ad sizes were uniform. It was a big class, and the ads were not placed in alphabetical order, so those without ads would not be conspicuous in their absence.</p>
<p>For S ('08), I do not recall doing an ad. Will have to check with him over Thanksgiving and ask him to pull out his yearbook. Did this tradition stop or, much more likely, did he never bring the form home? ARRRGGGHHH! With everything else going on (I was in treatment for breast cancer that year) I never thought of it until this thread! </p>
<p>But for son’s grad party I did put together an invitation juxtaposing a really cute picture of him boarding the school bus his first day of kindergarten, blue backpack almost outweighing him, and another pic I took spring of senior year striking a similar pose, again with a blue backpack – so I can console myself with that.</p>
<p>We chose a 1/4 page ad for our son last year and inserted four photos…as a toddler wearing a cowboy hat and a big smile, a Little League action photo, a Middle School jazz band solo pic, and a photo as a senior. Our HS allows free group pictures and we loved seeing for the first time pictures of my son and his friends that other families submitted to the yearbook. </p>
<p>One year a family chose to brag about their daughter’s class rank, and her athletic and scholastic accomplishments in the ad to make up for her not being #1 or #2 in the class. Our local newspaper produces a section every year with photos of HS graduates and only one or two small parent ads in it. This family chose a 1/2 page ad that again was basically bragging about her class rank etc. It stood out like a sore thumb. </p>
<p>The paper also covered her four-year college accomplishments that her parents no doubt submitted. Sometimes a doctorate degree doesn’t come with any common sense.</p>
<p>I didn’t do the ad for my other kids so I did it for #4. Quarter page, $75. I figure it supports the year book and they do a really nice job.</p>
<p>Besides, this kid wasn’t in band, choir, or drama so I don’t have as many photos of him on stage or in costume (except for Halloween.) So I thought it would be nice to make a little fuss over him. </p>
<p>We don’t do quotes here, just words of congratulations from the parents, sibs, sometimes the dog…</p>
<p>Did it for both S and D - public and private schools. I figured it supported the yearbooks. For S, I chose shots of him all around the world as he was growing up. For D, shots of her doing her outdorr sporty stuff. I thought the pix just showed their interersts. Did it for them, nobody else.</p>
<p>It’s pretty common around here and we did a full page for each kid. The cost was around $150 or $200. You could send in your pictures/text and have the staff compose the page, or they had a few parent workshops where you went to the school and with the staff’s help, composed your own ad. These turned into great social outings with parents reminiscing, looking at pictures and telling stories of the kids through the years. The parent ad section is always the first section the kids look at when they get their yearbooks.</p>