<PAGE>

                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.2

                   CERTIFICATION ACCOMPANYING PERIODIC REPORT
           PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
                             (18 U.S.C. SEC. 1350)

I, Sherice P. Bench, Chief Financial Officer of American Achievement
Corporation, certify that:

     1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of American Achievement
Corporation;

     2. Based on my knowledge, this annual report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which statements were
made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this annual report;

     3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this annual report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this annual report;

     4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have;

          a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
     disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
     ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its
     consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
     entities, particularly during the period in which this annual report is
     being prepared;

          b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
     and presented in this annual report our conclusions about the effectiveness
     of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period
     covered by this reports based on such evaluation; and

          c) disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
     control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most
     recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case
     of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
     to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
     reporting;

     5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of directors
(or persons performing the equivalent functions):

          a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
     or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
     reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record,
     process, summarize and report financial information; and

          b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
     other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
     control over financial reporting.

                                          /s/ SHERICE P. BENCH
                                          --------------------------------------
                                          Name: Sherice P. Bench
                                          Title:   Chief Financial Officer

Date: November 17, 2003