Josten’s Publishing local representatives sponsored a workshop at Ellis High School for area yearbook staffs on Oct. 19, which both Hays High School and Hays Middle School yearbook staffs attended.

At the workshop, the guest speaker, Marci Pieper, provided recommendations, tips and trends to incorporate into the yearbook and included activities to test the students’ abilities. Pieper advises yearbook at Clayton High School in Clayton, Mo.

To start, she had the audience watch a brief video of a concert and analyze the emotions shown throughout the crowd. Later in the workshop, she had them draw a pig to determine their personality type and write a caption for a photo.

During the workshop, Pieper also provided suggestions to the yearbook students about ways to captivate the eye and include current trends, such as color, design, photo angles and typography. For this, she included samples in her presentation of past yearbooks and other publications that had a modern and appealing look.

The local Jostens representatives, Whitney Baker and Alli Schroeder, also had yearbooks from schools they represented showcased at the front of the auditorium for students and advisers to browse.

The staffs also had time to meet together to set goals for the year for their publications, for their staffs and for having fun during their classes.

“I thought the workshop was really good for us to go to because I thought it helped us come up with more ideas to help us with our yearbook, and I thought it also really helped our class come closer together,” senior Maggi Lindenmeyer, the Indian Call photography editor, said.