Personalized Yearbooks Through a Teacher's Eyes

Hi — I’m Sandra.

I’ve spent over 17 years in preschool classrooms, and one of the strongest memories I carry from every single year is graduation day.

Early in my career, as I cried during my first graduation ceremony, a more experienced teacher leaned over and said, “Give it a couple years — you won’t get emotional anymore.”

She was wrong.

No matter how many children have graduated from my class, I have cried every single year when it comes time to say goodbye.

Why I started making personalized graduation books

For many years, I taught at the same preschool in a mixed-age classroom. That meant I could have a child with me for up to three years — three years of photos, artwork, growth, and memories.

I wanted families to leave with more than just a ceremony.

I wanted them to take home the moments I had watched unfold.

So, in the weeks leading up to graduation, I spent hours — and I mean hours — creating a handmade scrapbook for every graduating child. Each one was personal. Each one was different. Each one told that child’s story.

Why traditional yearbooks never felt like enough

Over the years, we tried yearbooks a few times. They were lovely — but they still didn’t replace the scrapbooks.

Here’s why:

When you make a single book for everyone, you have to keep things “even.”

The same number of photos.

The same layouts.

But in real life, some children naturally end up in front of the camera more than others — and that never felt fair to me.

With the scrapbooks, I could:

• Include group photos everyone shared

• Swap in individual photos unique to each child

• Add artwork, schoolwork, and little details that mattered

  
  

Every child was fully seen.

The moment that made it all worth it

At the end of each graduation ceremony, I handed the scrapbooks to the children and their families.

Every year, parents cried alongside me as they flipped through the pages.

They saw moments they hadn’t known were captured.

They saw their child through my eyes.

Those reactions made every late night worth it.

The cost of doing it all by hand

But the truth is — this process was exhausting.

For nearly a month every year, almost all of my free time disappeared into cutting, pasting, decorating, and organizing. I loved it — but my family and my own kids at home were far less enthusiastic.

I kept wishing there was an easier way to do this… without losing the personal touch.

Enter Rethink Yearbooks

That easier way came from an unexpected place — one of the parents who had received a graduation scrapbook.

With Rethink Yearbooks, everything I cared about stayed the same — but the stress disappeared.

Now:

• Every child gets a fully unique, personalized yearbook

• Group and individual photos are all included

• I don’t have to manually design or assemble anything

  
  

All I do is what I love most: spend time with the kids and capture their moments. I upload the photos once, and Rethink’s technology takes care of creating individualized books for families who choose to order them.

Why Teachers Appreciate Personalized Yearbooks

I still get to share all the memories — the big ones and the quiet ones — without sacrificing weeks of my life to scissors and glue.

Every child is seen.

Every family gets a true keepsake.

And graduation still makes me cry — just without the burnout.

That’s what personalized yearbooks should feel like. 💛

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