Our Summer 2026 News Quiz for Students

A grid of six images: A still from “The Odyssey,” red fireworks in the sky, protesters in India, firefighters spraying a blaze, soccer players celebrating and the message “JUST&T MARRIED!” on a screen outside Madison Square Garden.

Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures; Doug Mills, via The New York Times; Arun Sankar, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Cesar Manso, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York Times; Andre Penner, via Associated Press, via Associated Press Photo, via Andre Penner

“The Odyssey,” a film adaptation of the nearly 3,000-year-old Greek epic, arrived in theaters in July. Who wrote the original poem?

Flocks of sky-watchers around Europe turned their gazes upward this month for the rare chance to witness the continent’s first what in decades?

For the answers and an opportunity to test your students’ knowledge of some of the biggest news stories of the summer, invite them to take our Summer News Quiz.

This week’s Summer Reading Contest winners

An illustration of dozens of dress designs surrounding a person working on a dress.

Ian Foster-Dimino

From the 1,230 submissions for Week 9 of our Summer Reading Contest, we chose two videos and an essay as winners.

First, Lilian Fu, 14, from Fort Lee, N.J., reacts to the episode of The Daily podcast “Why Do Some Memories Survive Dementia?”
Next, Ava Castillo, 15, from Whittier, Calif., responds to the Opinion essay “The Rise of Fashion Slop.”
And finally, Jun X. Ren, 16, from New York City, shares his thoughts on the July 29 article “Fauci Invokes Fifth Amendment More Than 100 Times in Bitter Senate Hearing.” Here’s how he begins his piece:

The recent Fauci hearing brought back painful memories for countless Americans, including myself. I don’t remember exactly how many times I contracted Covid-19, but I do remember the scars it left on me, my family, and my community.

The article “Fauci Invokes Fifth Amendment More Than 100 Times in Bitter Senate Hearing” covers the ways Republicans drilled Fauci in a Senate hearing and the ways Democrats pushed back against Chairman Rand Paul. But beneath dramatic moments like the ousting of Fauci’s lawyer and his refusals to answer basic questions designed to humiliate him lies the quiet, unaddressed suffering of millions of families.

Recent Times reporting about schools

An illustration of anthropomorphic laboratory objects, some depicted as students and some as teachers.

Anna Haifisch

In a Guest Essay, a university professor writes about how he got his students to read a 1,000 page book. (Hint: Teacher passion is a key.)
The education reporter Dana Goldstein writes about “what students lose when they stop writing?”
The Opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof celebrates hero teachers who are stepping up to help Americans struggling with cuts to benefit programs like food stamps and Medicaid.
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani is giving free Broadway tickets to high schoolers.

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