quaker.quill

By: Ava Robertson Brownie Crinkle Cookies are festive and fudgy cookies rolled in powdered sugar; the perfect dessert for the winter! This easy to make recipe is excellent for any event or occasion. Ingredients: - 1 cup of flour - 1 cup of sugar - 1⁄4 cup of cocoa powder - 1 tsp of baking powder - 1 tsp of salt - 1⁄2 cup of butter (1 stick) - 2 eggs - 1 tbs of vanilla extract - 1 cup of chocolate chips (optional) - 1⁄2 cup of powdered sugar Directions: First, you want to mix

By: Harper LaLomia On Feb. 7 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., the Quaker Valley Student Council hosted its annual winter formal for all students from grades 9-12. The special event was held in the high school's decorated gymnasium.  Purple, green, and yellow streamers hung around as the hired DJ kept the dance floor lively with different high-energy songs. The winter formal planning committee embraced the colorful theme of “Mardi Gras,” even providing beaded necklaces and other fun a

By: Cecilia Holte The QVHS Varsity Swim team has had an exceptional season thus far. With leadership from QV seniors Kendra Hines, Austin Young, Makenna Kamnikar, Margaret Burns and Alexa Westwood, the group looks forward to upcoming competitions. Most notably, the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League or WIPIALs is fast approaching. During practice, members of the team focus on remaining consistent while also pushing themselves to set new standards. “The swi

By: Evelyn Zutter and Kate Steinfurth On April 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Quaker Valley Student Council Service Committee is holding the QV Thrift event at Chuck Knox Stadium. This is a tentative date that is dependent on weather.  The clothesline sale is meant to fundraise for an environmental organization in honor of Earth day, which will occur earlier that same week. The student spearheading much of the effort is Margaret Burns. Throughout the spring leading up to the s

By: Joelle Muretisch On Feb. 9, the Quaker Valley Pep Band left all of their tunes on the court following the final regular season buzzer at the boys basketball game. The band consists of musicians from grades 8-12 who are unified by the common interest of enhancing basketball games with catchy songs and rhythms to keep the audience, and the players, on their toes and “in the zone.”  This year, the Pep Band was under the leadership of head director Evan James, assistant dir

By: Evelyn Zutter and Kate Steinfurth On Sept. 22, 2025, the National Honor Society Induction Ceremony was canceled due to a sudden power outage. However, the NHS Induction Ceremony has been successfully rescheduled for March 23, 2026. “Dr. Riccobelli and I had to work with our student activities coordinator to make sure there were no conflicts with a new date,” NHS sponsor Ms. Marasia said. “We picked mid-March to avoid getting in the way of the spring musical. And hopefull

By: Victoria Wilmot As the year draws to a close, students have already begun planning out their schedules for the 2026-2027 school year. As always, QVHS has a wide variety of classes for students to choose from, and the Program of Studies will feature new classes for students to take next year. One such class is Manufacturing and Fabrication taught by Mr. Santucci. In this class, Students will learn basic skills for the production and manufacturing industry, handling vario

By: Gwendolyn Taylor  This March, the QVHS Music Department will perform the musical “Alice by Heart.” The show takes place in London during the 1940s. Alice Spencer, a young teen girl who is forced underground into a makeshift shelter due to bombings, escapes only with her old copy of “Alice in Wonderland,” which is quickly confiscated by the callous Red Cross nurse. In an attempt to comfort her best friend Alfred, who contracted tuberculosis during the war, she begins to r

By: Hannah Olawaiye The Quaker Valley Mock Trial season is fully underway. On Jan. 10 and Jan. 11, the Mock Trial team participated in the annual mock trial practice competition at the University of Pittsburgh.  The competition is essentially a practice run for the actual competition. It does not affect how the actual competition works, meaning that wins and losses do not necessarily matter. Each team goes twice, once on Saturday and once on Sunday. The competition normally

By: Evelyn Zutter and Kate Steinfurth One of multiple new clubs started this year, the Lit Club—led by junior Madeline Horton—is off to a strong start. “I started the lit club to read and discuss books with people who love it as much as I do,” Horton said. They meet once a month in Ms. Marasia’s room, typically at the end or beginning of the month, and members have read a total of four books so far. These include “We Were Liars,” “Stepsister,” “Late Night at the Telegraph Cl

By: Lucie Kuyler This October, we saw a new adaptation of “Frankenstein” directed by Guillermo del Toro. Del Toro has directed movies like “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Crimson Peak,” “Nightmare Alley” and “Pinocchio.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with the story’s plot, it is about a scientist named Victor Frankenstein, whose life’s goal is to create artificial life from body parts. Frankenstein’s efforts result in a tragic, despised creature committed to vengeance against his

By: Cecilia Holte Quaker Valley welcomes back the Gay-Straight Alliance club for the 2025-2026 school year. Led by juniors Isaac Palladini and Rowan Wallace, the club focuses on accessible and lighthearted meetings that address deep social issues. Fresh off the first gathering, both leaders remain hopeful that the club will have time to develop throughout the year. The two hope to incorporate many different demographics within the student body at Quaker Valley. With an empha

By: Adele Hydzik On Jan. 10, members of the Quaker Valley Drama Club attended the 2026 PrimeStage Drama Awards Ceremony at Shadyside. The Drama Club’s production of “The Great Gatsby” was nominated for several awards, including Sevin Leghorn for Best Student Director, Adele Hydzik, Evelyn Bertiaux and Ana Luiza Bacchi for Best Student Costume Design, Bertiaux and Hydzik for Best Student Makeup Design and Bacchi for Best Student Program Design.  In total, the cast and crew p

By: Homer Campbell This year, both the boys and girls basketball teams have had a successful season, the boys team with 8 wins to 0 losses and the girls team with 14 wins to 2 losses. With both teams playoffs-bound, the season is far from over. The head coach of the girls team, Coach Johns, says the hardest team to play this year was the first game against Thomas Jefferson, which was not a section game. He believes the team has fared well this year. “I hope we do well in th

By Isaac Palladini The Quaker Valley volleyball team ended its season with a 9-11 record. The team has had its fair share of accomplishments over the past few years, including a historic win at the 2024 WPIALs. This team's success can be attributed to its strong sense of community, teamwork and leadership on and off of the court. “Recently, we have gotten much better at working together as a team,” varsity player Aria Casillas said. “Together, we have improved not only our p

By: Gwen Taylor High school can be a tricky time. Try taking some advice from our QV Juniors and Seniors!  “It’s okay to struggle in classes, no matter if they are AP or honors or academic, school is hard and you shouldn’t diminish your own challenges just because of someone else’s success. I would also say if you’re taking honors or AP classes and struggling, don’t feel dumb for needing to drop down or take academic the next year. It is totally okay to struggle and taking an

By: Kate Steinfurth and Evelyn Zutter Q: What’s your name? A: Zachary Benedek Q: What are your hobbies? A: I love coaching football, recreational sports (big pickleball guy), hiking, fishing, chess, riddles/puzzles, and spending time with my family. Q: What class do you teach? A: I teach Algebra Foundations and Algebra II Q: What did you do before coming here (to QV)? A: Before I started at QV, I was attending school for my master's in education. Along with this, I work

by Joelle Muretisch This school year, the Quaker Valley Marching Band performed their halftime show “Shrek!” at each football game. Keeping true to the theme, the band played some of the classic tunes from Shrek and Shrek 2, including “All Star,” “Accidentally in Love” and the band’s favorites, “I’m a Believer” and “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” Under the direction of Mrs. Zayna Shadid, the band strives to create a sense of fellowship, community, and pride across the entirety of Qua

By: Harper LaLomia   In a shocking turn of events, Quaker Valley High School’s new phone ban in study hall has had an unexpected consequence: students are faced with boredom. The ban is intended to reduce distractions so students can concentrate on their studying and assignments, and as a result, many students have seen fewer missing assignments in PowerSchool. However, when students run out of work to do—shocker—they must scramble to find ways to entertain themselves withou

By: Evelyn Zutter & Kate Steinfurth The Quaker Valley National Honor Society Induction Ceremony was set to take place at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22. Current and incoming NHS members arrived promptly at 5:45 p.m. for a rehearsal, and were met with an unexpected power outage. “It was eerie to walk into such a dark high school,” recalled Joelle Muretisch, a junior and NHS inductee. “The rain was pouring and everyone had their flashlights on. It felt strange.”  NHS Faculty S