Oct. 6, 2025
Our past three editions
Sept. 29, 2025 Government shutdown • Test scores • Space mission
Sept. 22, 2025 First Amendment threats • Ticketmaster • WNBA playoffs
Sept. 15, 2025 Traumatic news • Heat waves • Emmys
THE LEAD
US at risk of losing measles elimination status as disease continues to spread
Dig into vaccination, infection data in your state
Measles cases have now been reported in the majority of states, with a total of 1,544 cases nationwide, as of Oct. 3. The largest outbreaks are in Texas and New Mexico.
If the outbreaks continue through January, the United States will lose its status of having eliminated measles in 2000. Very few of the nation’s cases are linked to people visiting from outside the United States.
More than three-quarters of counties and jurisdictions have seen notable declines in childhood vaccination rates since 2019, an NBC News investigation showed. In the states with data on how many children receiving the MMR vaccine, 67% don’t meet the threshold for herd immunity, NBC reported.
What you can do —
Though national headlines on measles spread have fallen to the background in many cases, the virus is still spreading in many communities. Many states have publicly available, detailed data — often on a school or county level — about vaccination rates for the required childhood vaccines. This data often also includes a breakdown of vaccine exemptions.
Dig into that data for your area. Have vaccination rates changed? How do local statistics compare to your state or the whole country? Did COVID-19 seem to have an effect on vaccination uptake?
Also, check out your state’s health department website to see if there are reported measles cases.
Talk to experts about what the various data points mean. This story is a great opportunity to practice good data reporting, but it’s important to put everything in context, particularly considering the increasingly political nature of vaccine conversations.
Noteworthy
In a spooky side effect of tariffs, your Halloween costume might cost more this year
Take a look at local prices ahead of the holiday
Tariffs on goods from China are limiting Halloween inventories in the United States — and the scary merchandise that is available will cost consumers more, CNN reported. Shoppers can expect to spend $114.45 per person this year, an increase of $11 from 2024, according to the National Retail Federation.
The price increases will likely be mostly limited to goods from China.
For one Halloween aficionado, Phantom Halloween’s Ryan Goldman, the increased costs meant he didn’t order some larger, complicated decorations, he told CNN.
What you can do —
As Spirit Halloweens pop up across the country and the Halloween season intensifies, talk to local businesses about if they are seeing these impacts. Are students prepared for a more limited Halloween decor and costume season?
This information could also be used as a news hook for a story about low-waste costume ideas, or how to plan a fun Halloween on a budget.
Halloween might not come until Oct. 31, but the spirit of the season extends far beyond that one day. Talk to students and staff about how they are celebrating this year.
What’s viral
Taylor Swift returns with new album ‘The Life of a Showgirl’
Gather opinions, reactions to the much anticipated release
Bringing with it drama, love and no shortage of sparkles, Taylor Swift’s new album dropped Oct. 3 much to the excitement of fans around the world.
The album is an ode to Swift’s life behind the scenes of the Eras Tour that took the world by storm. It is the artist’s 12th studio album and comes just 18 months after her last release, “The Tortured Poets Department.”
The record marks the reunion of Swift and producers Max Martin and Shellback, who she worked with on “Red,” “1989” and “Reputation”
What you can do —
Check in with the Swifties in your life. Did the 12-song album live up to their expectations? Do they enjoy the pop style of the music?
Swift is notorious for dropping hint after hint ahead of the release of new music — did the fans in your school correctly follow the Easter egg trail or were they bamboozled? Coverage here can go beyond a simple review and capture Swift’s impressive social relevance. Take a close look at the lyrics and see what fans are theorizing about possible references and deeper meanings.
100 years of Quill & Scroll
A look at the initial ‘Program of Quill and Scroll’
Though a lot has changed in the 100 years since Quill and Scroll was founded, some things have remained consistent. The October 1926 edition of the Society’s magazine makes that much clear. It lays out the program of Quill and Scroll in remarkable detail.
The magazine identifies two chief purposes for the Society: to encourage and reward individual achievement. It goes on to spell out how this can be achieved.
“It will be ceaselessly active in its effort to make conditions in the high school conducive to creative work. To this end, the society has determined upon a program which should alter materially the work in high school journalism,” the magazine reads.
Specifically, it lays out eight points of emphasis:
- Experimentation with new types of publications
- Inspiring the individual student
- Fitting journalism into the curriculum
- Appreciation of the work of the journalism teacher
- Practical guidance for staffs of publications
- Special consideration of business problems
- Help to those who wish to be writers
- Unifying work of state and sectional organizations
Many of these ideas hold true today in both the national Society and chapters across the country. While we revisit the goals from 100-years ago, please let us know your ideas for the next century as well. We want Quill and Scroll to continue to continue to grow in all eight of these areas.
IT’S AN HONOR
It’s always membership season
Don’t forget you can nominate members year round
Do you have a senior who just met the GPA requirement or a student who now wants to join Quill and Scroll? Want to avoid the spring rush? Nominate students for membership order pins, 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.
YEC entries closed for the year
The 2025 Yearbook Excellence Contest is closed for entries.
We plan to announce the winners by mid December.
Special thanks to our sponsors this year: Picaboo, Varsity and Walsworth. We couldn’t run this program without them.
Writing, Visual, Multimedia contest opens
Due date is Feb. 6
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. 6.
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. We’re happy to help!
Take advantage of our advisers-only resource area
Quill and Scroll has expanded its advisers-only area, which includes bellringers and lesson plans for advisers who have initiated members within the past school year. We will be highlighting a helpful resource in each Weekly and Month Scroll.
Advisers, if you inducted members in the 2024-25 or the 2025-26 school year, check your email (and your spam!) for a message from [email protected]. That email should contain your login information. Please be sure to accept cookies when you log in! If you have trouble, you can contact us at [email protected]. If you have inducted members this school year, we update access every few weeks, so keep an eye on your email.
We will be highlighting specific content from the advisers-only area in each Weekly Scroll.
Advisers-only resource area highlight
Using the Weekly Scroll to teach content localization (part 1)
In this lesson, students will see how they can use the ideas in the Weekly Scroll to help expand their student media coverage. Note, the Weekly Scroll is publicized Mondays, but we often have it available Fridays.
Want to do more? There is a part two to this lesson.
National High School Journalism Convention travels to Nashville
This fall the nation’s largest gathering of high school journalists, advisers and journalism teachers will be Nov. 13-16 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. 
The JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention offers hundreds of instructional sessions, keynote speakers from national newsmakers, dozens of media critiques, JEA’s popular on-site media contests and the announcement of the NSPA Broadcast and Newspaper/Newsmagazine and Specialty Magazine Pacemakers. The winners in the NSPA Individual Awards will also be announced.
NSPA also offers a convention Best of Show competition that celebrates current student media from the current school year. The deadline for submitting Individual Achievement entries is Oct. 29. Staff Achievement entries are due at the convention on Nov. 14.
Registration is open now. Online registration will close Oct. 24.
School of the New York Times Summer Academy opportunity
We know it’s early, but for those looking for a 2026 journalism learning opportunity, it’s not too early to begin planning. The School of the New York Times Summer Academy is one of the nation’s most competitive journalism programs — and Quill and Scroll members get exclusive early access.
Summer Academy is open to high school students (grades 10-12 and Graduating Seniors based on the grade the student is entering in the Fall 2026 school year). Students must be 15-years old by the first day of their session. Program graduates have been recruited from some of the top journalism schools in the nation. Please see this link for the course catalogue.
All students applying to Summer Academy for the first time are required to complete an online application. Returning students do not need to reapply. As a member school, Quill and Scroll chapter members will have access to pre-registration, which is now open. Last year this program received more than 14,000 applications for 1,700 seats. By going through pre-registration, your chance of being an attendee increases.
Also, don’t forget that students from schools with a Quill and Scroll Charter can receive $500 off enrollment in the Summer Academy in addition to early enrollment incentives.
Additionally, the winning entries from our News Writer of the Year (Category 16 in Quill and Scroll’s Writing, Visual, Multimedia Contest) are 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.
The School of the New York Times will host a Virtual Admissions Information Session later this fall.
The round 1 deadline will be in mid December and the admission information and application portal are posted.
First Amendment Press Freedom Award entries due Dec. 15
The Journalism Education Association has opened applications for the First Amendment Press Freedom Award, sponsored by JEA, NSPA and Quill and Scroll.
This award recognized schools who actively support and honor the First Amendment through its student media programs. The award focuses on press freedom and a jury looks at the entire student media program at the school: digital and print news, yearbook and student broadcast.
Please see the link for details. Please read and respond carefully to all questions. Even if your school has received FAPFA recognition before, you must reapply each year.
Plan ahead
We will be out of the office during the weeks of Oct. 13-17 and Nov. 10-14. We will not be able to send or process orders during this time — including overnight orders. Please remember we need at least three weeks from the time we receive your purchase order or payment to the time you need the materials. We will process all orders as they are received.
Upcoming Weekly Scroll pause dates
We will pause the Weekly Scroll during the weeks of Oct. 12, 20, Nov. 10, 17, Dec. 1, 15, 22, 29 and Jan. 5. We will be spending the week before, when we amass these, either traveling to and from conventions or with our families. We will resume Jan. 12.
Some advisers and students have found linking to our Weekly Scroll page beneficial.
Thank you for understanding.
Just a thought
Congratulations to our new Student Advisory Board members and their advisers.
This group will not only advise Quill and Scroll leadership, but will also work together on projects that will benefit our members. We look forward to working with these 22 talented students.
Leah Bridon, Lake Braddock High School, Adviser Andrea Koebbe
Emma Burton, Greenwood Community High School, Adviser Denise Green
Emma Campos, Jack C. Hays High School, Adviser Laura Fleming-Holcomb
Keva Elie, Moorestown Friends School, Adviser Diana Day
Brooklyn Fuqua (returning), Jack C. Hays High School, Adviser Laura Fleming-Holcomb
Kaeleigh Heckaman, Hoover High School, Advisers Rachelle Ogilvie (Newspaper) and Candice Greene (Yearbook)
Bryce Infald, Commack High School, Adviser Christina Semple
Tracy Jiang, Obra D. Tompkins High School, Adviser Candice Thomas
Christopher Long, Shawnee Mission East High School, Adviser Dow Tate
Piper Magargee (returning), Christ Presbyterian Academy, Adviser Heather Nagel
Kane Manfull, Francis Howell North, Adviser Aaron Manfull
Elizabeth (Libby) Marsh, Shawnee Mission East High School, Adviser Dow Tate
Finn McMahan, North Central High School, Adviser Tom Gayda
Kyleigh Morris (returning), Harrisonburg High School, Adviser Val Kibler
Sydney Ortiz, Kingwood Park High School, Adviser Megan Ortiz
Soeun (Lauren) Park, Niceville Senior High School, Adviser Kelly Humphrey
Lili Perez, Hamilton Southeastern High School, Adviser David Young
Satvika Ramanathan, Huron High School in Ann Arbor, Adviser Sara-Beth Badalamente
Lucy Ross, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Adviser Heather Nagel
Logan Victoria Brown, Prestonwood Christian Academy, Adviser Aubrey Pasant
Macy Williams (returning), Shawnee Mission North High School, Adviser Becky Tate
Fay Zhao, Trinity Preparatory School, Adviser Erin Miller
— Lori Keekley
