Middle School Gets First Yearbook in 15 Years

DALLAS, TX

L.V. Stockard Middle School in Dallas, TX is getting its first yearbooks in 15 years thanks to the support of the community and the Yearbooks for Everyone Fund by Picaboo Yearbooks.

Money was undoubtedly a factor when L.V. Stockard Middle School in Dallas, Texas decided 15 years ago to discontinue its tradition of printing an annual school yearbook. Approximately 1,200 students attend the urban school, a beneficiary of a federal program for free or reduced lunches which some researchers see as an indicator of a school’s financial strains.

For decades, traditional yearbook companies have held schools to minimum order quantities, overpriced books and annual price increases that have resulted in thousands of dollars in debt.

So when Allyson Grosskreutz started teaching at Stockard last year, it was no surprise that she was turned down when she asked if the school could create a yearbook. Toward the end of the school year, she noticed kids walking around with construction paper stapled together and the words “My Yearbook” written on the front. When she saw them exchanging signatures with one another, she cried.

Without the support of the school, a yearbook club or students, Grosskreutz found Picaboo Yearbooks and started work on a Stockard Middle School yearbook for the 2019-20 school year. Picaboo Yearbooks is unlike traditional yearbook companies, with no minimum order requirements, fair pricing and a debt-free approach.

With a Picaboo Yearbooks online store, Grosskreutz began collecting yearbook orders. She and school administrators were shocked when they discovered that 70 yearbooks had been purchased online.

“I was so excited when I got the first notification that a student had purchased a yearbook,” Grosskreutz said. “It really motivated me to continue working on this project. At first there were very few presales, but in the end I am very excited about how many families purchased a yearbook.”

Grosskreutz applied for Picaboo’s Yearbooks for Everyone Fund, and the company happily agreed to ship an additional 165 yearbooks to be distributed to students.

Bill Miles, CEO of Picaboo Yearbooks, created the fund for schools just like Stockard. “By sharing stories and achievements, yearbooks create connections and are a source of pride and happiness for the school community,” said Miles. “In an effort to help yearbooks reach as many students and families as possible, we created the Yearbooks for Everyone Fund. Thanks to donations to this fund from 100s of schools, we are able to provide Stockard yearbooks for every student.”

Dana, a student at Stockard, described her excitement over receiving a Stockard Middle School yearbook.

“I am really excited to have a yearbook because when I grow up I can see who my teachers were and my friends,” she said. “I also get to see what I used to like and I just get to have some really great memories that I have from my first year in Stockard.”

Picaboo Yearbooks believes all students deserve the opportunity to have a school yearbook. Learn more about the Yearbooks for Everyone Fund and how to apply by visiting: https://amilestonegroup.com/yearbooks-for-everyone-fund/