Picaboo Yearbooks Announces National Contest Winner
HANOVER, NH
Picaboo Yearbooks, the leading provider of digital, on-demand yearbooks, has announced the winner of the first My School Deserves a Yearbook contest. The contest began on October 5 in conjunction with National Yearbook Week and as part of Picaboo Yearbooks’ annual Yearbooks for Everyone Grant Fund, which helps make yearbooks a reality for students and districts that might not otherwise be able to afford them.
Entrants were asked to submit their unique story in 250 words or less about what made their school deserving of free yearbooks. The winning entry will receive yearbooks for the entire student population, while four honorable mentions will each receive 25 free yearbooks.
In a little over a month, Picaboo Yearbooks received more than 100 amazing entries submitted from across the US and Canada. Each entry captured the school’s individual personalities, as well as the reasons why their school deserved to win. From a commitment to giving back, to lack of funding, to never before having a yearbook program, the entries ran the gamut of deserving schools.
“The amount of entries we received for this contest solidified just how important our mission of Yearbooks for Everyone is,” said Kevin McCurdy, CEO of Picaboo Yearbooks. “Each school had an amazing story to share, and we look forward to carrying out this contest again to ensure even more schools have access to a yearbook.”
Picaboo Yearbooks ultimately chose Harbor High School of Highland, Mich., as the Grand Prize winner, and four additional schools as runners-up.
“The students who attend Harbor High School attend as a last resort,” said yearbook adviser Benjamin Dowker, in his contest entry. “The ‘At Risk’ label that more than 70 percent of our students qualify for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch program is just one more label identifying a life of struggle, loss and fortitude.”
The My School Deserves a Yearbook runners-up are:
Honorable Mention – Yellow Door Academy, Edmonds, Wash.
Honorable Mention – Arthur F. Smith Middle School, Alexandria, La.
Honorable Mention – Castaic Elementary School, Castaic, Calif.
Honorable Mention – Steele Street Public School, Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Many of the entries sited past yearbook debt and inability to meet the minimum quantity commitments of traditional on-demand yearbook companies as a program obstacle. Picaboo Yearbooks’ use of digital technology offers more flexible and affordable options for schools.
“Our unique no debt, no minimum order program is allowing schools to have a yearbook for the very first time,” said McCurdy. “’Yearbooks for Everyone’ is not just a tagline–we truly do want every student the opportunity to have a yearbook.”