‘The Quill’ receives national awards for 2025-26 school year coverage

In recognition of sustained excellence in student journalism, Cooper High School's student newspaper, The Quill, has earned national awards for the nine issues published during the 2025-26 school year. 

The Quill received a First Class rating from the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), a national community of student journalists and scholastic journalism advisors. To earn the rating, The Quill was judged in five areas: coverage and content, editorials and commentary, sports, visuals, and ethics and law. Two Marks of Distinction were also earned by the student publication in the areas of coverage and content and presentation. 

NSPA judge Christine Keyser-Frank said in her final comments, “The Quill staff provides an excellent variety of coverage in News, Opinion, Variety, and Sports. Their work exemplifies a staff that embraces difficult and potentially controversial subjects with confidence and professionalism.”

Additionally, the student publication won an International Second Place Award from the Quill and Scroll Society, which is an international high school journalism honor society. This is the seventh consecutive year The Quill has received an award from the society.

“The 2025-2026 staff of The Quill impressed me on a daily basis with their willingness to take on more work than required in order to consistently produce a professional publication of high quality. Each staff member clearly took pride in their stories and leadership roles,” shared Eric Zuccola, The Quill’s advisor and Cooper High School English teacher. 

“What is more, they took pride in the fact that they were a voice for the other students in our school. It is a pleasure to see them get recognized for the efforts they put in over the course of a long school year to maintain the high standards of Cooper's student newspaper.”

Check out The Quill by visiting the paper’s website. Issues are published monthly during the school year.