Yearbook Blog

On the Hunt: Getting Ready

Sun, 3 Apr 2011 15:39:38 -0400

The 2011 iPod Treasure Hunt begins 4/11/2011 with the release of the first clue.

Ready? Maybe not...

GET READY:

1) Sign up for text message updates. Text fdhsyearbook to 70359. (Standard rates do apply.) First notice about new clues will go out via text.
2) Friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. These folks will be the second notified about new clues.
3) Get a QR Code reader. Read this post to learn more and to find which readers we recommend.

KNOW HOW TO PLAY:

Read this information to know all you need to know to play the game.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN:

The first clue will be release sometime before midnight on 4/11. Be ready.

Good Luck,

~ Roller

FDHS's First Annual Savings Card

Sat, 2 Apr 2011 08:36:30 -0400

We’re proud to announce the first annual FDHS Savings Card. In this article, we’ll discuss how businesses can have their business listed on our card and what the card will offer those who purchase it.

For Businesses
Currently, we are in the process of discussing our card with local businesses to provide them an opportunity to be included. We are looking to include twenty or more savings offers on our card and as of the date of this writing, we are about halfway there, with a number of agreements pending.

As such, we hope to begin offer the card for sale before the end of the 2010-2011 school year!

If you own or know of a business that might like to be included on our card (either this year or in future years), please contact James Roller or simply download our Merchant Agreement and mail or fax in to us.

Here is also a list of actual Past Offers made by businesses for cards like this to give you an idea of what sort of offer your business might make.

“Our goal for our business partners with this card is to give people in our community an incentive to visit our partners. As a FDHS Savings Card holder, say I am deciding on a place to eat. I know I have an offer at Wendy’s, but not one for Chick-fil-a. I certainly have a greater reason now to spend my money at Wendy’s instead,” said Mr. Roller, Fort Dorchester’s yearbook adviser.

“With our annual Savings Card in the hands of hundreds of people in the Fort Dorchester community, businesses included on our card will have a competitive advantage over their competitors. It is as simple as that,” Mr. Roller continued.

The deadline to submit a Merchant Agreement for this year’s card is April 22.

For the Community
Clearly, what our Savings Card offers is twenty or more discounts or other savings offers that are valid on a daily basis until 8/1/2012.

That is over a year of savings at places like Kangaroo Gas Stations, Wendy’s, Chili’s, Wonder Wash, Brat’s Tanning, and Arby’s.

In addition, we are currently in discussions with places like Tanger Outlet and reaching out to business owners who have students at Fort Dorchester to provide even more value for our card holders.

“The great thing about our Savings Card is that these offers are not just one-time discounts. Unless indicated otherwise, these offers can be used at all of these businesses every day until August 2012. That will be a very real benefit for anyone who uses our Savings Card,” Mr. Roller said.

The cost of the card will only be $20 and will have the following restrictions:
• Must Present at Time of Order
• Equal or Lesser Value with Buy one, Get One offers
• Not Valid With Other Offers, Coupons, or Specials
• Not Transferable
• Limit One Offer Per Card Per Person Per Day
• Subject to Change Without Notice
• Additional Terms and Conditions May Apply

“We hope to include at least 20 offers on our Savings Card this year. At this point, we are almost there between the agreements we already have on hand and those pending with whom we are currently in discussions. In addition, we have just sent a voice message to the homes of all Fort Dorchester students to make sure we don’t leave out any business owner who feels they could benefit from being on our card. When this collection of offers is finalized, we feel we will really have something of value to offer both those businesses and our card holders. Really it is a win-win-win situation,” Mr Roller said.

FDHS’s savings card is expected to go on sale beginning May 2.

Text fdhsyearbook to 84483 to sign up to text alerts regarding the Savings Card and other yearbook related info.

QR Codes: How and Why We Used Them

Sun, 6 Mar 2011 10:26:39 -0500

We are very excited to announce that we will be including QR codes in the 2011 Patriot yearbook.

First, it is important to understand what these codes are and how they work. QR codes are simple two-dimensional barcodes that can be read by a phone with a camera and a reader application, or a desktop computer with a web camera and the appropriate software.

There are a few readers that we recommend. I will put links to those at the end of this article.

By using your phone or web cam to scan a code, new information will be revealed. In our case, the codes are most often being used to add content to our yearbook in the form of videos or slideshows. However, some codes take you to webpages. They can also be used for many other things.

We knew about them last year, but were uncertain how to implement them properly in the book.

In doing our research earlier this year, we partnered with a company by the name of Yearbook Unlimited. They have helped us not only understand the pitfalls of adding QR codes to this yearbook, but also helped us recognize the power of using them.

Yearbook Unlimited has held our hand through the process, and that is how we were able to implement them in this year’s book.

As to why we chose to implement them, I think that will be evident once the book is in your hands. Imagine, for example, you’re thumbing through the book and you come to the Halloween Hoot page.

Wouldn’t it be great not only to see the photos but also to watch the video of the event? Before, you would have to get out the DVD, find a television with a DVD player, and find the video on the DVD.

Now, all you have to do is scan the code on that page. Boom! You’re watching the Halloween Hoot video.

It is the perfect complement to the material printed on the page. It brings you right into another dimension that we were never able to provide before.

As a result, we will be phasing out the use of DVDs in the yearbook. This year and next year, we will still produce a DVD, but we will not include one in every book. Anyone who would like a copy is welcome to come pick one up from room 109 after the book is distributed.

As smartphones become more ubiquitous, QR Codes are a technology you will begin to see everywhere. The Fort Dorchester Patriot yearbook staff, with the help of Yearbook Unlimited, is happy to be on the cutting edge of this new technology.

We hope you will love it as much as we do.

Here are the readers we recommend:

Phones:
i-nimga -- probably the most widespread reader worldwide
Scanlife -- comes pre-installed on many phones
Qrafter -- a new one that has interesting features

Computers:
QRreader -- only computer reader we’ve tried; works well However, you have to have Adobe AIR installed (free): http://get.adobe.com/air/

Here is a page where Mr. Roller details his yearbook staff's experience adding QR codes to the school yearbook: Yearbook QR Codes

YourBook Program

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 14:22:25 -0500

This year, the yearbook staff is trying to continue a program aimed at providing deserving students with a yearbook.

I have contacted the faculty asking them to identify worthy students who deserve to have a yearbook but simply cannot afford one. This is not a general aid program, but rather one designed to put yearbooks in the hands of good kids caught in a difficult situation.

Here is the first response I ever received to my request:

If you can't give a yearbook to (name omitted) out of your "needy student" fund, I will probably buy her one myself.

Last spring, (name omitted) moved out of her parents' home. As her grandmother would tell you, she was raising her parents rather than the other way around and it was the best decision for her to make. She moved in with a friend and stayed there until November, when she really felt she needed her own space. Her grandmother and aunt arranged, long-distance, for her to have an apartment and the IB teachers helped her furnish it with things we found in our garages. During her entire senior year, (name omitted) has lived on her own, in her apartment, with no means of transportation, no medical insurance, and, rarely, groceries (when her teachers pooled together money to get them for her from time to time.) Her grandmother comes to stay with her from New York for a few weeks, then leaves for a few months to take care of her own family, then comes back as she can. (name omitted) has had few of the advantages that most kids have their senior years. She spent the is weekend in the hospital with a severe infection, probably the result of an upper respiratory infection she has had off and on all year, but with no medical insurance nor money nor means of transportation to see a physician, she has had no choice but to just be sick. Her grandmother just called me and told me that she took her to the doctor on Friday, then to the ER on Saturday night. Hopefully, she will recover enough to do well on her IB exams. She was accepted to Converse College and has just about enough scholarship and loan to cover her expenses, but she is already stressing out about being homeless this summer after her apartment lease runs out in June. For this poor kid, it's just one thing after another. Most other kids in her position would have just given up on school, found a job, and managed to survive badly. (name omitted) wanted to stay in school, continue to work toward an IB diploma, and has managed to do so despite some of the saddest circumstances I have ever seen. I think she probably is needy enough.

This is just one of many such stories.

We could, of course, turn our back on such students, but we thought there might be a better option. So, we have decided to reach out for help from local businesses or community members who we think might be in a position to offer a bit of happiness to those in need.

Yearbooks currently cost $80. However, we are willing to sell the books at a reduced price to businesses or individuals interested in donating them to the students our staff has identified. The cost per donation would only be $40.

In addition to a reduced price, at your request, we will add a sticker inside the front cover of the book indicating the book was compliments of you or your business. Finally, we will publish information about your generosity on our website (unless you would prefer to remain anonymous), including linking to your site.

If this is a project you would like to help us with or know someone who would be willing to assist, please email me at the link below. The year is quickly closing and we would like to help those we can before it is over.

Thanks,

James A. Roller
FDHS Yearbook

Surprise: We now have extra books to sell

Mon, 12 May 2008 17:40:55 -0400

Due to the binding problem with some yearbooks (see story here), Jostens has printed 150 extra copies of this year’s yearbook.

We will use some of these to replace any problem yearbooks, but we don’t expect nearly that many to be damaged. So....

We have yearbooks for sale!!

We didn’t anticipate getting extra books; in fact, it is quite rare for extra books to be printed. But... since we will have so many being printed, we are able to sell books to those who had not purchased a book before now.

There will be no additional charge for this special run of yearbooks. The price remains $70.

Yearbooks may be purchased from Ms. Harrison in the front office all summer. You can pay with cash, money order, or check. Please make checks payable to FDHS.