When I first saw heated debates about senior quotes and superlatives in the yearbook advisor Facebook groups, I’ll be honest – I didn’t immediately understand why this was so controversial. I’d created yearbooks for elementary students for years, so senior-specific features weren’t something I’d had to think about.
But as I read more perspectives and really thought about it – about the world we live in today, about how these traditions can play out – I came to understand where the problems lie.
This isn’t a simple issue. There are real concerns on both sides, and the “right” answer for one school might be completely wrong for another. So let’s talk about it.
Why Some Advisors Have Stopped Including Them
The concerns about superlatives are legitimate. They can become vehicles for revenge or snark. They can hurt people in ways that last.
I know this firsthand. In my high school yearbook back in the 1980s, I came in third for “Most Likely to Appear on the Cover of the National Enquirer.” Not because people thought I’d do something newsworthy – because they thought I was a gossip who would end up in a gossip magazine. Coming in third meant that a significant number of my classmates thought this about me. It stung then, and honestly, it still stings now.
The world was different in the 80s. We weren’t as concerned about hurting someone’s feelings the way we are – and should be – today. But even then, these votes could wound.
Today’s concerns go even deeper. Superlatives can reinforce popularity contests where the same handful of students win everything while others are overlooked. Traditional “boy and girl” categories create problems for gender fluid, non-conforming, or differently identifying students – a reality of 2026 that we need to acknowledge without getting political about it. Some categories carry sexist undertones or make assumptions that don’t fit all students.
Senior quotes bring their own challenges. The biggest concern I hear from advisors is coded language – messages that seem innocent to adults but carry meanings teenagers understand immediately. Song lyrics, inside jokes, references to things we don’t keep up with as adults. How do you catch what you don’t know to look for?
How Superlatives Have Evolved
It’s interesting to see how this tradition has changed over time.
In my high school yearbook, superlatives were a double-page spread of lists. Categories with the top three vote-getters for each. Names in columns. No photos, just text. Simple, straightforward, but as I mentioned, still capable of causing hurt.
When I look at my children’s high school yearbook from 2012, it’s completely different. They had superlative winners – one category per pair of students – but these pairs got full photo shoots. My daughter was voted Most Artistic along with a male student. They chose to splatter paint and create art on themselves for their photo. The pairs decided what they wanted to do for their shoots, making it collaborative and creative rather than just a popularity list.
The evolution shows how schools have tried to make superlatives more meaningful, more creative, and more about celebrating students than ranking them. But it also shows how much more investment this requires – photo shoots take time, coordination, and planning.
What About Teacher and Staff Superlatives?
While looking through a 2012 high school yearbook, I came across something that caught me completely off guard – superlatives about the teachers, voted on by students. Categories like most school spirit, most ready for summer, and best dressed. I’ll admit I found it fascinating, but it also gave me pause.
On one hand, it’s a sweet way for students to celebrate the adults in their school community. On the other hand, it opens up an entirely different set of risks.
Think about what can go wrong. “Most Ready for Summer” sounds harmless enough, but what if students use it as a passive-aggressive dig at a teacher they feel is checked out or doesn’t care? What if voting becomes vindictive – a way for students to publicly embarrass a teacher they don’t like? What if certain categories become vehicles for students to call out perceived “favorites” or air grievances about staff members?
There’s also the dynamic of putting teachers in the position of being judged and ranked by their students in a permanent, published document. Some teachers might love being included and celebrated. Others might find it deeply uncomfortable or even inappropriate.
If your school is considering teacher superlatives, this conversation needs to involve your administration even more urgently than student superlatives. The categories need to be carefully chosen – celebratory and kind, not open to interpretation or misuse. And the vetting process needs to be rigorous.
It’s a fascinating idea, but one that requires even more thoughtful consideration than student superlatives.
If your school wants to include something like superlatives but you’re concerned about the traditional approach, consider alternatives:
Achievement and skill-based categories instead of personality judgments:
- Most Artistic (demonstrable skill) vs. Most Likely to Become Famous (speculation)
- Best Photographer, Strongest Athlete, Most Talented Musician
- Categories that celebrate what students have actually done, not predictions about their future or judgments about their personality
Gender-neutral categories:
- “Most Stylish” instead of “Best Dressed Boy and Best Dressed Girl”
- Top 2-3 vote-getters regardless of gender, not necessarily boy/girl pairs
- Let the votes determine who’s celebrated, not predetermined gender categories
Broader inclusion:
- More categories so more students get recognized
- Categories that celebrate different types of contributions (Most Helpful, Best Listener, Most Improved)
- Ways for students who aren’t the most popular to still be seen and valued
If You Choose to Include Senior Quotes: Vetting Options
If you want to include senior quotes but you’re worried about coded language or inappropriate content, here are some approaches:
Involve your student yearbook staff in the vetting process. They’re closer to the teenage world than you are. They might catch references or meanings you’d miss. An honest, trustworthy yearbook staff can be your best resource for identifying quotes that seem innocent but aren’t.
Create a clear pre-approval process. Don’t just collect quotes and hope for the best. Set up a system where quotes are submitted, reviewed, and approved before they go in the book. Make the timeline clear so students know when they’ll hear back.
Give clear guidelines upfront. Tell students what’s not acceptable before they submit. No profanity (including acronyms or masked curse words). No inside jokes that exclude or hurt others. No references to illegal activities. No coded messages. Be specific.
Involve your administration. This isn’t just a yearbook decision – it’s a school culture decision. Make sure your administration is part of the conversation about whether to include quotes and what the guidelines should be. Their support (and oversight) matters.
Consider making quotes opt-in rather than required. Not every senior wants to participate. Not every senior has a quote they want to immortalize. Giving students the choice to opt out removes pressure and reduces the chance of throwaway quotes that create problems.
The Conversation You Need to Have
Here’s what I want you to understand: I can’t tell you whether to include senior quotes and superlatives in your yearbook. The Facebook groups can’t tell you. The advisors who are passionately for or against them can’t tell you.
The decision belongs to your school.
But it should be a decision made thoughtfully, with multiple voices at the table. Talk to your yearbook staff – your student journalists who will have to implement whatever you decide. Talk to your administration – the people who will back you up if something goes wrong or who might have policies that affect this decision. Talk to your broader student body if possible – find out what they actually want, not what you assume they want.
Think about your school’s culture. Are superlatives a beloved tradition that students genuinely look forward to, or are they a source of stress and exclusion? Do senior quotes give students a meaningful way to express themselves, or do they create opportunities for coded messages and hurt feelings?
Consider what fits your values and your community. A small school where everyone knows everyone might handle superlatives differently than a large school with thousands of students. A school with strong anti-bullying initiatives might need different guidelines than a school without those programs. Your specific context matters more than anyone else’s opinion.
There’s No Universal Right Answer
Some schools have eliminated quotes and superlatives entirely and feel great about that decision. Students don’t miss what isn’t there, and it removes potential sources of hurt and controversy.
Some schools have kept them but modified the approach – achievement-based categories, gender-neutral voting, rigorous quote vetting, opt-in participation. Students appreciate the recognition and the tradition feels meaningful rather than harmful.
Some schools have kept traditional superlatives and quotes with few problems because their school culture supports it and their students engage with it positively.
All of these can be the right answer – for that school, for those students, in that community.
What matters is that you’re making the decision intentionally, with eyes open to both the benefits and the risks, in conversation with the people who will be affected by it.
Because it’s not just a yearbook. It’s YOUR book. And these decisions about senior quotes and superlatives? They’re YOUR decisions to make, together with your students and your administration, based on what serves your school best.
Have the conversation. Make the decision that fits YOUR school. And whether you include these features or not, know that you’re doing what’s right for your students.
That’s what matters most.
Let us know how you liked this series in the comments below.