Youth Organizations: Quill and Scroll
The Quill and Scroll Society is a high school honor society devoted to fostering interest and excellence in the field of journalism. It has member chapters in all fifty states and in forty-four countries around the world, serving more than 14,000 students.
Program
Quill and Scroll fulfills its mission in a variety of ways. It administers the Edward J. Neil Memorial Scholarships, granted annually to ten seniors who have demonstrated excellence in high school journalism, and the Lester G. Benz Memorial Scholarship, granted to a high school journalism faculty or yearbook adviser who desires to further his or her education with journalism courses at the college level.
The organization also sponsors contests, open to high school student members. The International Writing, Photo Contest awards a prize to the winning student submissions in eight categories of journalism, including editorial writing, feature writing, and photojournalism. The Yearbook Excellence Contest awards a prize to the participating high school that is judged to have produced the best yearbook.
Quill and Scroll also offers a news media evaluation service to participating high schools, in which the school's newspaper and other media are given a detailed critique along with suggestions for improvement. In addition, the society publishes Quill and Scroll magazine, which features articles on the journalism profession.
Seeking to advance the cause of good journalism to as broad a public as possible, Quill and Scroll also awards prizes to nonmember schools and individuals who have, in the opinion of the national committee, made singularly important contributions to the profession.
Organization
Quill and Scroll is governed by a board of trustees, the Quill and Scroll Corporation. The board is responsible for administrating the affairs of the national society. The Quill and Scroll Foundation administers the scholarship program and conducts research in high school journalism.
Local chapters operate autonomously, when it comes to planning local activities, under the leadership of a faculty adviser drawn from the journalism or English department. Participation in most of the nationally sponsored contests and activities requires an application form filed with the society's head quarters.
Membership
High schools must apply for a charter from the national organization before they can open an official chapter of Quill and Scroll. Individual membership can only be achieved through a local school chapter. Faculty members of a chartered school who teach journalism courses or who advise the school news paper or yearbook automatically become society members. Prospective student members must be in their junior year, must be in the upper 30 percent of their class, and must work on one or more of the school's publications. In addition they must secure the recommendation of their publication's faculty adviser. Applications for membership must be approved by the secretary-treasurer of the national society.
Members do not pay dues but are obligated to pay an initiation fee. On initiation, the new member receives a gold badge bearing the society insignia and is issued a membership card. In addition he or she receives a year's subscription to Quill and Scroll magazine.
History
The Quill and Scroll Society was founded in 1926 by a group of educators at the University of Iowa, led by George H. Gallup, best known for his groundbreaking work in public polling (the Gallup Poll). At the time of its inception, the Quill and Scroll was in tended to foster interest and excellence in the field of journalism. From these beginnings in Iowa, the Quill and Scroll Society has spread to schools throughout the country and overseas.
Internet Resource
Quill and Scroll Society. 2002. www.uiowa.edu/~quill-sc.
— EDITH M. LERRIGO, Revised by, JUDITH J. CULLIGAN
