Nov. 25, 2024
Our past three editions
Oct. 28, 2024 Presidential endorsements • Fentanyl awareness • Romance in movies
Oct. 21, 2024 Girl Scout dues • IV fluids • Liam Payne
Oct. 7, 2024 Local elections • Food waste • Fat Bear Week
THE LEAD
Group works to boost NYC journalism programs
Examine role of student journalism in your school
In New York City, less than a third of public high schools have newspapers. A new initiative, Journalism for All, is trying to change that. The program is set to create journalism programs at 30 high schools across the city, The New York Times reported.
It is not the only program trying to boost the number of high school journalism programs — other states like California, Illinois and Texas have similar projects.
The Times posted a call for student opinions on this earlier this month, and the post has more than 130 comments.
What you can do —
Take some time to go through The New York Times’ questions, either intending to comment on the article or as just an in-class activity. It could be interesting to adapt these questions to different forms of student media — what different roles do broadcast programs, yearbooks, newspapers and magazines play?
Also, review your mission statement. Does it need to be adjusted or revised? What role does your student media play on your school campus and community?
Noteworthy
Massachusetts reevaluates standardized test requirements for graduation
Look into state graduation requirements, standardized testing results
Earlier this month, voters overwhelmingly voted to eliminate the requirement that students pass a standardized test to graduate in Massachusetts. Now that Question 2 has passed, legislators are considering the possibility of a new statewide standard instead of the MCAS, the standardized test previously required for graduation, the Berkshire Eagle reported. The measure takes effect on Dec. 5.
What you can do —
Though your state may or may not have an equivalent measure, it is worth looking into educational standards in your area. Generally speaking, standardized test results are public on a school and district level, often through state education department websites. It could be interesting to look at your school in comparison to nearby schools or in comparison to pre-pandemic results.
What’s viral
‘Wicked’ opening weekend follows intense promotional plan
Gather community reactions to hype
It seems like you can’t open your phone or turn a corner without running into promotional material for the movie adaptation of “Wicked,” which came out Nov. 22. From makeup brands to clothing to immersive experiences, the “Wicked” marketing campaign has taken on many forms, Forbes reported.
Ticket sales for the big-screen version of the Broadway classic are expected to hit $100 million over opening weekend, Variety reported. The movie only covers the first act of the Broadway show, and is still almost three hours long.
What you can do —
As people across the country flock to theaters for “Wicked,” people in your community likely will too. Talk to community members who have seen the show about what they thought — ask them if it lived up to the promotional hype. Because this is a movie adaptation of a Broadway show, it would also be interesting to ask Broadway fans which version they like better.
There is also an opportunity for quick social media content if people in your school have bought “Wicked” merchandise or seen promos online.
A very different movie, “Gladiator II,” also came out Nov. 22. In an intersection similar to “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” in 2023, it will be interesting to see how the movies compare over opening weekend and possibly write a review of both.
IT’S AN HONOR
New feature
If you haven’t accessed our members-only area, we encourage you to do so. While we hope to expand this feature, you can find bell ringers, lesson plans and a gallery of our News Media Evaluation Gallup Award winners.
To access, please visit our new member login page. Your credentials are in an email from [email protected]. Please check your spam folder and if you still don’t see it, reach out to us at [email protected] and we will help you troubleshoot!
When you log in, please accept cookies via the popup on the bottom of the page. This will limit the number of times you have to login!
Members-only area highlight
See our activity about AI and photography
This activity highlights the fact students often use their phone to take photos for student media. Because of this, it might be a great time to discuss this feature and the use of AI photos from an ethical standpoint — especially since many phones can remove and rework images so easily. This chapter activity involves members examining AI and then their photo guidelines on manipulation and AI.
We will be highlighting something from this members-only area in each Weekly Scroll. If your login information isn’t working for some reason, please reach out to us at [email protected]. Your login information was sent to you in an email a few weeks ago.
It’s always membership season
Beat the rush — nominate members today
If you’ve thought about having a more active Quill and Scroll chapter, we suggest initiating members now. (And don’t worry, if you’re worried that having chapter activities will just add another to do time to the list, we have several suggested chapter activities in “lesson plan” format so students can lead these!) While you’re ordering, don’t forget to include any cords and other Quill and Scroll materials and memorabilia.
We haven’t changed the ordering process from last year. For those wanting to ditch the paper version, you just need to select the form based on how you would like to pay. We have one version for credit card and another version for check or purchase order. (We’ve added buttons for ease of finding these.) As usual, credit card payments are charged $4.49 per order for processing.
Writing, Visual, Multimedia contest open
Due date is Feb. 5
The entry form is live and we are accepting submissions. Be aware, we have added a few categories and changed a few items and descriptions. The cost is $8 for all entry types and you may submit live links. If you would rather make a PDF of the submission, you may still do this as well. Please make sure to allow anyone with the link to view. Remember, we don’t accept a Google document as an entry. We only accept published work.
Please make a note — all entries and payments will be due Feb. 5.
Make sure to include either your credit card payments or check or purchase order when you enter. The link provided on the site will take you directly to the credit card or check/purchase order page for the order. The WVM category payment option is at the bottom of the page.
Please reach out if you have any questions.
Chapter shoutout
Members of the Quill and Scroll Honor Society at Park Vista Community High School (Florida) volunteered their time assisting Little Free Libraries (LFL) during the Nov. 2, the Day of the Dead, celebration in downtown Lake Worth Beach. Members worked in two-to-three hour shifts between 3-9 p.m. Duties included: staffing the booth decorated by Mary Lindsey, founder of the Lake Worth LFL Project, which was designed to honor Todd Bol, the late founder and creator of the Little Free Library, telling the tale of Bol’s passion, handing out free books and reading to children. By approximately 8:30 p.m., they ran out of books, so their time was well spent.
P.S. Quill & Scroll members will volunteer for LFL again at the Lake Worth Beach BiblioArte Festival March 8 where more free books will be handed out and one of the illustrators of some books we passed out in November will be on hand to do free signings.
If you would like to be featured, please use this Google form or email us at [email protected]. Please include a small description and photo of the event.
Opportunity from the Freedom Forum
The 2025 Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference June 22-27, 2025 provides 51 students (one high school junior from each state plus the District of Columbia) with an all-expenses-paid program that includes panel conversations with journalists, newsroom visits, a chance to meet students and industry leaders who share a passion for news, and a unique Washington, D.C. experience.
Participants also receive a $1,000 college scholarship and ongoing support from a community of more than 1,500 alumni. Students build their skills, grow their network and get a head start on their future.
Apply by March 23 at FreeSpiritJournalism.org.
Upcoming Weekly Scroll pause dates
We will pause the Weekly Scroll during the weeks of Dec. 2, 23, 30 and Jan. 6. We will be spending the week before, when we amass these, with our families. We will resume Jan. 13.
We didn’t have a Monthly Scroll because of convention travel. We will have one in early December. (We usually have one in either November or December.)
Thank you for understanding.
Just a thought
Exciting contest news update. As stated earlier, we have opened the Writing, Visual, Multimedia Contest. Please note, we have updated the contest name so it better reflects the visual entries, which includes photo and design. We also have opened three new middle school categories as well.
The winning entries from our News Writer of the Year (category 16) will now be eligible to compete for a School of the New York Times scholarship to its Summer Academy. This scholarship (valued at $7,500) includes room and board but not transportation to New York City. Student entries will be evaluated by faculty from the New York Times.
Entries for the Writing, Visual, Multimedia Contest are due by midnight Feb. 5.
For our Yearbook Excellence Contest, we have just received all the judging results and anticipate we will release our Yearbook Excellence Contest results Dec. 3, which is earlier than our anticipated mid-December time frame. These results will be on Facebook. Please know, we will not release results prior to Dec. 3.
We also will be opening our Private School Journalism Contest by Dec. 1, which is a little earlier than anticipated. These entries are due by midnight March 7.
Both the WVM and PSJA awards will be given at the JEA/NSPA Spring National Student Media Convention in Seattle at the Quill and Scroll morning awards.
Our News Media Evaluation service will open by early May. All entry components are due by midnight June 13.
A special thanks to all our judges who take the time to judge these and our other contests. We couldn’t offer these services without them.
Also, as many of you celebrate upcoming holidays, may you have many relaxing days filled with many warm memories. Thank you for all you do for scholastic journalism.
— Lori Keekley
