How to Celebrate a Year of Growth: Photo Book Ideas for Teachers, Classrooms & Graduates
For parents, educators, and students of all ages—and especially graduates—the end of a school year is an incomparable milestone. There’s the pleasure of the long summer break to look forward to, but also the satisfaction of looking back upon a year of growth.
Most kids end the year bringing armfuls of school projects home. It can be enjoyable to look through the piles of homework, art, and books, and see how much progress they’ve made. And don’t forget about all the fun and friendships along the way! Looking through photos from the year is another way to reflect upon your child’s academic and social adventures.
To celebrate the end of the school year and commemorate the past year of learning, consider creating a custom photo book. Fill the book with memories of the year, from academic achievements to silly stories, and turn them into a tangible keepsake to treasure forever. Here are some ideas for photo book projects that are perfect for capturing school kids’ year-long achievements.
Classic Yearbooks
Yearbooks are the original photo books designed for capturing memories of a school year. The classic format showcases every student and teacher in the school, plus major events, academics, extracurriculars, and all the miscellaneous happenings at school. All schools, whether they’re a preschool, elementary, middle, or high school, small or large, private or public, can embrace the same format and make it their own with Mixbook’s diverse design themes. Plus, yearbooks are always a big hit with students.
Tip: If you’re planning to create a school yearbook, check out our comprehensive Yearbook Planning Guide.
Classroom Memory Books
Classic yearbooks can only give so much space to each grade, so many educators love to have a memory book just for their own class. Memory books allow every student to get some special attention through photo spreads and written memories. You can dedicate pages to special school projects, awesome art made by the students, and “before and after” features showing how far the students have come between the start and end of the school year. Collaborate with a teacher on this project, or surprise them with a unique and thoughtful gift!
“Thank You, Teacher” Books
The end of a school year is the perfect opportunity to show teachers how much you appreciate them. Creating a custom photo book just for a teacher is an amazing way to do that. Gather photos of all the kids in the class, and ask each one to write down or tell you something they appreciate about their teacher. You might prompt younger children with questions like “What’s your favorite thing about Teacher?” or “What was the best thing you did in school this year?” Add photos of the classroom, fun school projects, field trips, and the kids at play.
Tip: An Art Portfolio book is a great way to say “thank you” to a special art teacher.
Related: 4 Unique Gift Ideas for Teachers Day
Grad Gift Photo Books
Graduation is the biggest school milestone of all, and a big day for taking photos! All the shots of your happy grad at their ceremony, and then celebrating with proud family and friends, can be preserved forever in a custom graduation photo book. Along with those gown-and-cap portraits, you might feature photos taken throughout the student’s senior year, or even their entire academic lifetime. Start with those adorable first-day-of-school snapshots, continue with the highlights of every school year, and end with a favorite graduation photo.
Sports Books
If playing sports has been an important part of your kid’s school year, celebrate by creating a sports photo book. Dedicate the book to the year’s, or season’s, sports action, customized for your particular sport or team. Mixbook has themes designed especially for all kinds of sports, including soccer, dance, and swim, plus multiple sports and more. These themes are all fully customizable, so fill them with photos, stickers, and text that captures your kid’s unique achievements.
School Friendship Books
The social side of school is so important, and your child might want to celebrate their friendships as much as their academic growth. Collaborate on a photo book dedicated to a best friend or a group of friends, filled with photos of all the fun and bonding experiences they’ve shared together. The BFF Friendship book is a great choice for this kind of photo book, but your kid might also choose to customize any of the simple or everyday themes that suit their aesthetic.
How Will You Celebrate the End of the School Year?
When school’s out for summer, every student, educator, and parent is ready to celebrate. While looking forward to summer fun,* it also feels great to look back on the past year. Take a little time to look through the highlights of the year’s photos, and feel proud of everything your kids have achieved. And anytime you want to revisit those feelings, you only need to flip through your Mixbook.
*Speaking of summer fun, come back later and find the perfect travel book theme for the vacation memories you’re about to make!
Get creative on-the-go
Our app is all you need to make stunning photo books.