Nationwide, students are actively engaged in producing journalistic content for their schools. This includes traditional and emerging media: newspapers, magazines, yearbooks, radio/TV, and–more recently–social media. These hands-on, real-world learning experiences empower students while enabling them to share community stories with a global audience. Quill and Scroll, an esteemed international honor society for high school journalists, boasts a membership of over 1.5 million. However, students attending schools without a Quill & Scroll charter miss out on the opportunity for formal recognition of their outstanding contributions.
In 2022, Class Intercom established a non-school Quill & Scroll charter intending to honor these talented student content creators who are not able to receive this recognition at their schools. Since then, the Class Intercom chapter has inducted 15 students, nine of whom are being honored this year. In doing so, Class Intercom aims to help celebrate the achievements and impact of student content creators across the country. This spring, we honor nine exceptional student content creators and welcome them as members of Class Intercom’s Quill & Scroll chapter.
2024 Quill & Scroll Inductees
Real-World Learning & Experience
Class Intercom’s relationship with Quill and Scroll is unique, as it not only honors students for creating high-quality content, but also provides them with opportunities to create content for their school and for a professional brand. Students inducted into Quill and Scroll through the Class Intercom chapter are also invited to create meaningful content for Class Intercom. This includes graphics and copy for social media posts, as well as long-form content via the Class Intercom blog, the Content Generation Podcast, and its downloadable resource library.
In his appearance on the Content Generation Podcast, 2024 inductee Caden Block emphasized how sharing content amplified his passion for creating it. After suffering an injury during his junior year track season, Caden was determined to continue showing up in support of his team.
“I figured I’d bring a camera along to pass the time,” Caden said. “Seeing the joy that came from my teammates when I took pictures of them in action, and myself even, kind of had me hooked, but I didn’t have an opportunity to show that or express that to other people.” In the time since, Caden’s school has established a media production class where students explore and learn about creating content for their school’s social media channels by actually doing it. “As the world keeps evolving to digital content,” says Caden, who now has extensive experience as a student user of Class Intercom, “it gives us the skills to be a step ahead of other people, and something to bring to the table.”
2024 inductee, Caden Block takes video as part of his media production class at Hastings High School.
Other students took the opportunity to contribute their thoughts to larger conversations about how schools are approaching social media and what it means for today’s students. “Can we use these platforms for good? How does social media fit into schools? Can students develop a healthy relationship with social media? How can social media influence students to be respectful and kind to each other? With students engaging more and more with a screen, what tools can we give them to be helpful digital citizens?,” 2024 inductees Emma and Charlee wondered in a published piece they co-authored titled: Schools Wonder about Social Media, Students & Digital Citizenship. In the context of their experience creating content for their own school’s social media as well as being personal social media users, the two explore the timely topic of social media usage among students, and what it means to be empowered by it instead of consumed.
A Meaningful Accomplishment
Dr. Jill presents 2024 inductee, Drew Collings, with his Quill & Scroll membership.
“The achievements of our nine inductees showcase the positive impact of providing opportunities for students to explore their passions for storytelling and content creation,” says Class Intercom President Dr. Jill Johnson.
The induction of an additional cohort of talented student content creators into Quill & Scroll is also a reflection of the way the sector is adapting. “Schools nationwide are proactively building media teams and integrating storytelling, content creation, and digital citizenship into class, curriculum, clubs, and activities,” said Dr. Jill. “The benefits of these efforts–when implemented with the right framework and curricular supports–extend to every area of the school community. Students learn valuable skills and gain experiences, schools and districts are able to more authentically share their schools’ stories, and there is an overall net positive increase in sentiment and perception among school community members about the great things happening within our schools.”
Interested in learning more about how technology can help your school or district more effectively empower and involve students? Follow the link below to get in touch.
