Spark Grant Spotlight: New cameras help NMS’ yearbook club make memories and build skills for a lifetime
There’s more to North Middle School’s yearbook club than meets the eye. Along with cataloging student life and preserving memories for years to come, the club brings kids together from across grades and social groups, fostering a stronger school community. “Yearbook club has become a home for students who excel in creative activities, but haven’t really found their ‘place’ in middle school yet,” says faculty advisor Carleen Matts-Behrends. “Especially those who don’t play on sports teams.”
Yearbook club has become a home for creative students who haven’t really found their “place” in middle school yet.
The wide array of students participating translates to an uncommonly robust and comprehensive yearbook, thanks to having so many different perspectives as input. The yearbooks they create are routinely sent out across the country as examples of top-quality middle school productions. In fact, the publishing company they use ranked North’s book among the top 100 yearbooks they printed last year.
The club has evolved over the past decade in response to both organizational changes and student needs. When Matts-Behrends, a language arts teacher, took over as club advisor in 2016, many of their cameras were old and prone to malfunctioning. So she applied for a Spark Grant from Hopkins Education Foundation to purchase four DLSR cameras, which they still use today.
At that time, the yearbook club wasn’t actually a club – it was a class, limited to ninth graders. But several years ago, North converted the class in to a weekly club for grades 7-9 so that any student interested in journalism, photography, or graphic design could be part of the team. And, if you know your Hopkins Public Schools history, you know what happened next. North transitioned from a junior high school to a middle school serving grades 6 through 8, starting in the 2023-24 academic year.
Suddenly Ms. Matts-Behrends had a new challenge: many of the sixth graders struggled to use cameras designed for adult-sized hands. Of course, most students carry pocket-sized cameras to school every day in the form of cell phones. But school policy restricts phone use on campus, making them an impractical work-around.
Undaunted, she turned to HEF once again and was awarded a Spark Grant in the fall of 2024, which funded the purchase of seven new Canon PowerShot ELPH 360s—a lightweight, compact model that even the smallest students quickly mastered.
HEF board members stopped by a yearbook club session at NMS to officially award the grant.
The grant, totaling roughly $3,100, including protective cases for all seven cameras, has made an outsized impact on the club. “We wish you could attend a club session and see our students in action,” says Matts-Behrends. “It’s the most work we’ve ever seen students do simply for the love of it all – their team, the creative process, the real-world and leadership skills they’re building, and of course, the final outcome, which provides their school community with a lasting book of memories.”
Indeed, students receive no academic credit for participating. And yet, they’re so enthusiastic that the school added additional club sessions focusing specifically on photography and marketing.
The yearbook club empowers students to make their own decisions about what photos they need, as well as when and how they’ll get them. As such, students are empowered to check out the cameras from the classroom and use them independently, helping them learn how to manage equipment responsibly and ethically. At each meeting, students examine the quality of the photos they’re getting, looking at photo composition, lighting, angles, and camera settings to help them improve. They also analyze whether they’re accurately capturing the amazing diversity of the North Middle School community and telling the full story of their school year.
The club is proud to be a feeder program for Hopkins High School’s yearbook organization, and several North students have become editors there. Some have used their design skills to create promotional materials for other student activities, while others have gone on to participate in journalism at the college level.
“It’s the most work we’ve ever seen students do simply for the love of it.”
Say “cheese”!
Everything the North Middle School yearbook club does is for their teammates, their school community, and the yearbook program’s legacy – not for “points” or grades. It’s a wonderful example of students building craft skills and social skills they’ll be able to use their whole lives. Now that’s a pretty picture.
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