| Is your child graduating high school this year? The time | | | | Newspapers often cover graduations. Clip articles |
| seems to go by so fast. It often seems like only | | | | from your local paper for a graduation scrapbook |
| yesterday that our graduates started kindergarten. | | | | page. If you or another family member have placed a |
| Now they are graduating high school and will be off to | | | | congratulations newspaper ad for your graduate, |
| college by fall. It's important to preserve and document | | | | make a photocopy of it to preserve it in the album. |
| those special final moments of high school in a | | | | Newspaper articles tend to fade over time, and copies |
| graduation scrapbook. | | | | will last longer. |
| You may already have a school scrapbooking album | | | | Graduation is full of photo opportunities. Think about the |
| for your child, but high school graduation memories can | | | | photos you want in your child's graduation scrapbook, |
| fill an entire scrapbook. Dedicate one album for this | | | | and make a list before the celebration starts. Pictures |
| special occasion. It doesn't need to be a large album, | | | | of the ceremony are important, but so are photos of |
| but one that can accommodate professional portraits | | | | your child with his friends, family and teachers. |
| might be important if you plan to include the sittings for | | | | Mementos of high school graduates should include the |
| senior pictures. | | | | program from the graduation ceremony. Try to |
| Senior pictures are usually taken the summer before a | | | | preserve more than one copy to use on a graduation |
| student's senior year. Still, they deserve a page in a | | | | scrapbook page to show both the cover and the |
| graduation album. Use your favorite pose or the one | | | | inside as much as possible. |
| used in the high school yearbook for your graduation | | | | Take lots of candid shots during graduation parties. |
| scrapbook's title page. | | | | You may not be attending some of these parties. So |
| There's so much to include in a graduation scrapbook. | | | | be sure to send along a camera with your graduate |
| Reserve one copy of your child's graduation | | | | and plan to exchange photos his friends, too. You'll |
| announcement and showcase it on a page. Following | | | | have a lot more photos to choose from if you share |
| that page, include cards and letters from family and | | | | them. |
| friends, especially ones with graduation advice. You | | | | You may want to include a copy of your graduate's |
| might even include a letter from you with a personal | | | | final report card or grade transcripts. A nice |
| message to the graduate. Write your hopes and | | | | complement to this would be a copy of the |
| dreams for their future along with advice you wish you | | | | acceptance letter to the college he plans to attend. |
| would have been given on graduation day. | | | | As a final closing page to a graduation scrapbook, |
| If your child is receiving a special award or honor at | | | | design a page around a photo of him leaving for |
| the graduation ceremony, be sure to design a page to | | | | college. You might also choose to close the scrapbook |
| highlight this accomplishment. Once the graduation is | | | | with two photos that show how he has grown. Place |
| over, either include the original certificate in the album | | | | a picture of his first day of kindergarten next to a |
| or make a copy. | | | | graduation picture. |
| Is your child giving a speech at the graduation | | | | A graduation scrapbook will become a family heirloom. |
| ceremony? Take some pictures of your child | | | | You don't need to make it complicated. The most |
| preparing and practicing for the speech. Save his | | | | important part of a graduation scrapbook is to |
| notes, including drafts, and use them on a page layout. | | | | preserve and document your graduate's special day. |