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Majaflo Yearbook Policy Manual
Ownership
The legal publisher of student publications is the Jackson County School Board. The agents of the school board are the school principal and the yearbook adviser.
Student Policy
A person is considered a student at Marianna High School at the time the pages are being created by the yearbook staff. For example, if the staff is creating the senior pages and a student has dropped out of school or is not enrolled at that time, then they may not be included. The grade a student is in is established by the official school records at the beginning of the year and that will be the designated grade for the student throughout the year. The yearbook staff will take all reasonable efforts for the inclusion of all students and the correct spelling of names, but may not be held liable for any faculty, staff, or student inadvertently left out or whose name is misspelled.
By virtue of the fact that the yearbook is a publication conceived, planned and produced by students, as well as the product of an academic elective program, certain guidelines must be put into practice ethically and legally.
Journalistic in nature, the yearbook attempts to inform and entertain its audience in a broad, fair, and accurate manner on all subjects that affect readers in the areas of student life, academics, clubs and sports. The entire student body constitutes the target audience for the book, with secondary audiences including school personnel, community members, and other scholastic journalism groups. Content focuses on coverage that will meet the wants and needs of the majority of these students.
While the staff not only allows, but also encourages, constructive criticism of any part of the book, before or after distribution, final authority for content of the volume rests solely in the hands of yearbook journalism students and their adviser. Administrators rely on the adviser and staff to make content decisions.
No material, opinionated or otherwise, will be printed which is libelous, irresponsible, advocates an illegal activity, or which the yearbook staff and/or the adviser deems in poor taste.
The majority of the articles are written by the staff, but a guest column may be included if the staff feels that it enhances a specific topic. The articles will be edited as with regular material and will be bylined.
If a faculty member or student dies during the course of the school year, the yearbook staff will treat the death in a respectful and conservative manner. The person’s name and dates of birth and death will appear in the album section. In addition, a black border will be placed around the deceased’s portrait(if the deceased had a portrait taken). If the people section in which the person is featured has already gone to press, the deceased’s portrait, name, and birth and death dates will be featured in the ad section.
A yearbook has many goals, but its main goal is as an historical document of one school year. The staff will choose to cover what went on at school with great detail, but also try to highlight the life and times that the students are experiencing. There may be coverage of local, national and world events pertinent to the school year, but a focus on Marianna High School will be standard.
All students and staff members must get their portraits taken by the specified studio chosen for the yearbook. They will have the option of purchasing their portraits. Seniors will pay a sitting fee to help defray the cost of printing their portraits larger than other students plus the inclusion of a picture of the entire senior class. All students and staff will have a total of two opportunities to have their pictures taken. Seniors will also have the opportunity to have their portrait taken in the studio, but must have this done in time for the yearbook staff to include them in the senior section. This typically is the middle of October. Seniors should check with the yearbook adviser for the specific date for each year. If a senior chooses not to get his/her picture taken, there will be a “not pictured” section in the senior section that will give each person’s name.
Team and club photos will be taken one time, and these will be taken by a specified studio as well. There is no guarantee that these will be placed on the specific spreads of the activities, but they will be in the yearbook with names attached. If students are absent the day(s) of their group photos, there will be no make-up sessions scheduled.
Special Categories
The yearbook staff includes the features Outstanding Seniors and Senior Favorites. These are merely recognition categories and carry no benefits for the selected students other than inclusion in the yearbook. All seniors (see Student Policy) are eligible. Outstanding Seniors are chosen by the faculty of Marianna High School who have been at the school for at least one year. Senior Favorites are chosen by a vote of the seniors present when the voting takes place. A senior may receive recognition in only one Senior Favorite category.
All advertising used by the staff has the same guidelines as editorial content. If advertising is accepted, this does not constitute an endorsement by the school or the staff. No ads will be sold for the yearbook that endorse illegal activities or illegal activities to minors. Controversial ads do appear, and the choice to run these ads will fall in the hands of the editor-in-chief and/or the adviser. It is not necessary for Marianna High School to run ads giving both sides of any issue. Ads containing any text that is encrypted, in code, abbreviated, or where the meaning is not clear will not be included. An ad page of the Marianna High School yearbook contains pictures at the top and bottom of each page. The ad purchaser is purchasing the space between those areas. For personal ads, the purchaser may supply pictures for the border pictures. If none are provided or if the number is not sufficient, the staff will supply the pictures.
The rates of advertising sales will be determined by the business/advertising staff.
All students have the option of purchasing a yearbook. The price will be determined by when the student purchases the book throughout the school year. The total price will increase as the year continues. It will be the responsibility of the buyer to provide proof of purchase, but the staff will also keep records. Ultimately, it is the receipt or a check stub that will validate if a student receives his/her book or not. Book exchange may be made for minor flaws in books with no writing in them. If a book is written in, then no exchange will be made unless the adviser feels the flaw in the book is of major proportion. Purchase of a yearbook does not guarantee inclusion in the yearbook.
Staff selection for the yearbook will be the responsibility of the yearbook adviser. Prospective members will submit applications. Work ethic, responsibility, the ability to work as part of a team, attendance, and academic skill will all be considered for final selection. For applicants not known by the adviser, an interview and/or consultation with faculty or yearbook staff members will take place.
Staff members are Marianna High School students. They are expected to follow all school policies. They will also adhere to the highest journalistic standards. This will encompass submitting all copy, rewriting material, checking and verifying all facts and quotations. Plagiarism and misattribution are offenses which may result in a grade of “F” and/or removal from the staff.
The grade for yearbook students is based on a point system. It is the responsibility of each staff member to insure that his/her points are recorded accurately. There is no specific make-up
work to be completed for absences, but a staff member may take on additional work (for points) to counterbalance any points missed. Because of the cost of the yearbook, each staff member has agreed to sell ads. He/she realizes that the sale of these ads will constitute a large portion of his/her grade for the first grading period.
Deadlines are the basis of journalism. Any missed deadline or assignment may result in a loss of points, and therefore, a lowering of the grade. Work is considered to be done when it is ready to be shipped to the publisher.
June 24, 2006