What is a yearbook? Dr Susanne Pratscher, a teacher of English and German in Vienna, Austria, tells us why her school makes one every June.
Like many schools all over the world, the VBS-HAKIII Schoenborngasse, in Vienna, Austria, publishes a yearbook every June. Its main aim is to give an overview of the most important events of the school year.
Students, teachers and parents appreciate it, because even years later it is a pleasure to read these yearbooks and remember what happened.
Our yearbook has six sections. The first is about the teachers and the subjects they taught in the various classes. There is always a list of abbreviations, for newcomers: some subjects have rather long names which are abbreviated in our daily school life and it is sometimes difficult to guess what they stand for.
This part also includes pictures of all the classes with the names of the students. If something exceptional happened during the year, such as graduations and weddings of former students, this is also mentioned here. Finally, this section lists the important dates, excursions and other events.
The second part of the yearbook has detailed information about two groups of projects: those which took place in the last week of the school year before, and those which were initiated and worked on by teachers and students in the current school year. We invite students who have just passed their first year at our school and those who will finish their education this year to write short articles about their first impressions (the beginners) and to look back on their school career (the graduates). Finally this part includes information about our training companies.
The third part deals with activities which were initiated by the foundation that finances our school, the Fonds der Wiener Kaufmannschaft. Among these are various possibilities for students to improve their knowledge in a number of fields through additional courses and seminars; our Open House, which is held once a year in order to help youngsters (and their parents) get to know our school before they decide to become students here; the ball which is held in the Vienna City Hall; the latest development concerning e-learning and the Merkur Award which is given to the best projects, students and teachers of the year.
The fourth section talks about numerous extra-curricular activities and the fifth part gives a survey of the sports at our school. And finally, the sixth part describes the tasks students had to solve in the final exams in a number of subjects.
Students, teachers and parents appreciate it, because even years later it is a pleasure to read these yearbooks and remember what happened.
