May 4, 2026
Our past three editions
April 27, 2026 World Press Freedom Day • Birds • Movies
April 6, 2026 Food pantry • CDC • Artemis II
March 30, 2026 TSA • Local politics • ‘Project Hail Mary’
THE LEAD
Supreme Court decides major redistricting case
Talk to experts about potential effects in your state
The Supreme Court of the United States further weakened the Voting Rights Act in a late April decision regarding a congressional map in Louisiana. The court held that the congressional map was a racial gerrymander, despite being drawn to comply with laws designed to protect minority voters, NBC reported.
The decision limits the cases in which states can consider race when drawing maps. It also means that Louisiana, and potentially other states, will need to redraw its voting map. The Republican governors of Alabama and Tennessee already called for their states to consider new congressional maps ahead of upcoming primary elections.
What you can do —
Election maps may sound far removed from the lives of high school students, but the maps that determine what neighborhoods are grouped together to elect representatives can have major implications on who wins elections. To cover redistricting and the recent Supreme Court decision, it is important to talk to legal experts who can explain the intricacies of the law and the implications of the ruling.
Ask experts how this could affect the voting districts your school is a part of. Take a look at the political nature of those districts and interview experts about how they could change. Also look back in history for any notable instances of redistricting.
Noteworthy
Oil prices reach 4-year high amid Iran conflict
Touch base with community about gas prices, travel plans
Oil prices have surged to the highest level in years — and the price at the pump is no different. In the months since the conflict in Iran started, oil prices had already jumped about 50%, ABC News reported. This week’s price peak takes it even higher, according to a benchmark index for global oil trading.
If oil prices stay high, households across the United States may continue feeling the economic pressure. A gladdon of gas costs, on average, $4.30 as of April 30, according to AAA.
Prices have risen because Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, which is a trading route responsible for the transport of about one-fifth of the global oil supply, according to ABC. It is unclear when prices could begin to fall again and analysts are predicting more price increases in the coming days, ABC reported.
What you can do —
For those who drive a car, gas prices might be top of mind as the bill at the pump increases. Talk to students and staff about how it is affecting their budget.
There are also larger stories playing out, including rising jet fuel prices. Consumers may see higher ticket prices for upcoming plane trips. Is this affecting anyone’s travel plans? Also, budget-friendly Spirit Airlines announced May 2 that it has gone out of business, in part because of fuel costs. Talk to people in your community to see if there are die-hard Spirit fans in your midst.
Jet fuel stores could run dry in Europe this month, the International Energy Agency warned in April. Flights are being cancelled and the United Kingdom is relaxing fuel standards to help alleviate the stress on the system. Check in with anyone travelling internationally this summer to see if their plans have changed.
What’s viral
Summer movie releases kick off
Publish a list of upcoming films with staff opinions
This summer movie theaters will be graced with everything from Minions, to the first “Star Wars” movie in seven years to a new “Toy Story” film, AP reported. The first big release of the summer came May 1 with the premier of “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” May also features an animated adaptation of the classic political allegory, “Animal Farm,” and a Billie Eilish 3D concert film. Late in the month, Pedro Pascal will star in “The Mandalorian and Grogu.”
June includes “Disclosure Day,” a Steven Spielberg film that questions if humans are alone in the universe. “Toy Story 5” also premiers in June, more than 30 years after the first movie.
In July, Disney will release its live-action adaptation of “Moana” and the original Broadway cast of “Hadestown” can be seen on the big screen for the first time. The month wraps up with a new Spider-Man movie.
What you can do —
As the first films of summer are released, send a reporter to see them and write a wrap up. There is also an opportunity to do a summer films preview — cover a wide variety of upcoming movies and make recommendations to your viewers. (This could allow you to do follow-up coverage next school year.)
A handful of this summer’s movies are additions to already beloved franchises or remakes of classic stories, so there is an opportunity to look back at the past movies before the new films come out.
IT’S AN HONOR
It’s always membership season
You still have time!
Banquet coming soon? Order now so you don’t have to ship it overnight. 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.
If your initiation is the week of April 20 or before, now is the time to order! Please note that we will be out of the office the week of April 13 for the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention so please allow extra time for processing,
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.
Advisers, if you inducted members in 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.
Members-only area highlight
Welcome to Press Playoffs, a high-energy activity where you’ll test both your teamwork and photography skills. Compete in three rounds of games, while capturing action-packed moments, and create a winning portfolio of photos to earn points and claim victory!
Student scholarship applications due May 8
The deadline for Quill & Scroll’s student scholarships is coming quickly. Don’t miss your chance to apply.
National winners in Quill and Scroll contests — such as the Yearbook Excellence Contest or the International Writing, Photography and Multimedia Contest and the Eye on Ivy Editorial Writing Contest — are eligible as seniors to apply for Quill and Scroll scholarships: the Edward J. Nell Memorial, or the George and Ophelia Gallup awards.
The Richard P. Johns award is available to all Quill and Scroll seniors, including those who did not enter contests. The scholarships are awarded for the freshman year only and can be paid in two installments.
All scholarships can be used for tuition, room and board at any college or university. Recipients must major in journalism or a related area of communications. The scholarships are awarded for the freshman year only and are paid through the university or college bursar’s office.
Scholarships amounts can vary. The Quill and Scroll Scholarship Committee will determine the amounts based on the applicants’ qualifications and recommendations
Please see this link to apply.
The 2026 scholarship application will close May 8, 2026.
News Media Evaluation services opens for 2026
Forms are due June 13
The Quill & Scroll News Media Evaluation provides news media staffs a one-of-a-kind assessment of your publication(s) with constructive comments and suggestions for improvement from qualified evaluators. Judges will provide a thorough analysis and rating to schools, and the evaluation exercise and feedback are instructive and developmental.
High schools and junior high/middle schools may enter their multimedia news operations, newspapers, news magazines and/or online news sites until June 13, 2026. Entries and ratings are returned mid September 2026. This service is open to non-member schools as well as member schools.
We offer four types of critiques for varying types of student news media. Learn more and submit today.
2026 YEC open for submissions
Submissions are due Oct. 1
The 2026 Yearbook Excellence Contest is open for entries through the start of October. The cost for each entry is $8. High schools will be divided by size — Class A for 1,000 or more students in grades 9-12, and Class B for 999 or fewer students in grades 9-12. Middle schools are in one “class” category, so advisers do not need to select a class.
The categories vary widely — including many forms of photography, writing and design. There are also submission opportunities for beginning staff members and middle school yearbooks. New this year is the Social media journalist category, designed to recognize excellence in use of social media.
YEC is an all-digital contest. Entries (PDFs of pages and/or JPGs of photos) will be stored online, and publications shared the URLs of those spreads, images or folders containing multiple files on the entry form. Because all work must be in published form, we do not accept Google docs. You may submit PDFs that are uploaded to Google Drive, but not unpublished work written in a Google Doc.
Gloria Shields NSPA Media Workshop
Dallas hosts one of the nation’s largest (and hottest) summer journalism workshops, June 29-July 2.
The temperatures and the ideas will sizzle in Dallas at the Gloria Shields NSPA Media Workshop.
Registration will open on March 2 for the 2026 workshop, set for June 26-July 2 at the Hilton Richardson Dallas.
The registration fee is $140 per student and adviser. The optional Sunday evening bonus class is $20 for those arriving early.
Check the workshop website frequently for updates as workshop plans are finalized. NSPA will send an email when workshop registration and hotel reservations open.
Upcoming Weekly Scroll pause dates
This is our final Weekly Scroll for the school year. We wil resume publishing next fall in early to mid September.
Just a thought
This is the last Weekly Scroll of the year. And what a year it’s been!
Thank you for helping us celebrate 100 years! Thank you for your stories and your support.
Also, thank you for all you do daily for journalism students and your community.
I appreciate all you’re doing to further journalism education. If there’s something we can do to help you, please let me know. We use your feedback when we look at what we need to improve, change and offer.
We hope to continue to develop a few new items during the summer to help you with your chapter. If you have any suggestions, please let us know using this form. Our Student Advisory Board and staff work to develop materials to help.
Don’t forget to encourage your students to apply for our Student Advisory Board for next fall. It’s a great way for them to have input and be involved nationally. The application is available now and is due Sept. 18.
And yes, if you still need memberships and/or cords, we are sending them out on a daily basis.
We look forward to working with you next fall. We will resume the Weekly Scroll after Labor Day weekend.
Have a great rest of your school year, and I hope you enjoy these last few weeks with your students. I wish you all a restful and relaxing summer!
Thank you for being part of Quill and Scroll this year!
— Lori Keekley
