Once again, it’s our pleasure to salute Illinois high school yearbook staffs on their outstanding work! The 2025 IJEA Yearbook Contest recognizes the best yearbook coverage in the state of the 2024-25 school year. Through a mix of comprehensive reporting, lively writing, creative graphics, innovative design, eye-catching photos and imaginative theme development, yearbook journalists once again captured the full range of high school life in memorable fashion.
In recognition of this, IJEA is delighted to announce the winners of our 2025 Yearbook Contest:
• Division 1 | Enrollment up to 210 | Results, Criteria, Comments
• Division 2 | Enrollment 211 to 320 | Results, Criteria, Comments
• Division 3 | Enrollment 321 to 700 | Results, Criteria, Comments
• Division 4 | Enrollment 701 to 2,050 | Results, Criteria, Comments
• Division 5 | Enrollment 2,051 and greater | Results, Criteria, Comments
The books were judged in eight individual categories: copy writing, divider pages, graphics, layout & design, overall coverage of school year, overall coverage of sports, photography and theme development.
Books earned points based on how they placed in each category:
• First place in a category = 5 points
• Second place in a category = 4 points
• Third place in a category = 3 points
• Honorable mention in a category = 1 point
The three books with the highest scores in each division received first, second and third place for Overall General Excellence in their respective divisions. Other books in each division received honorable mention if their final point totals finished 12 points or fewer behind the point total of the third-place book in their division.
The judges were drawn from the ranks of experienced journalists, teachers and advisers. Judging in each category was guided by criteria used in similar contests nationwide.
Congratulations to our winners for overall general excellence!
Division 1 | Overall General Excellence | Top Three
● 1st — Greenfield HS | Shere Khan | Angie Brown, adviser
● 2nd — Okawville HS | Timepiece | Dana Donovan, adviser
● 3rd — Regina Dominican HS | The Crown | Kathleen Houston, adviser
Division 2 | Overall General Excellence | Top Three
● 1st — Meridian HS | The Talon | TillieAnn Steele, adviser
● 2nd — Carlyle HS | Tomahawk | Gina Shook, adviser
● 3rd — Galena HS | Ship’s Log | Susan Bookless, adviser
Division 3 | Overall General Excellence | Top Three
● 1st — University of Chicago Laboratory HS | U-Highlights | Jayna Rumble, adviser
● 2nd — Richmond-Burton Community HS | Endeavor | Beth Marshall, adviser
● 3rd — Carterville HS | The Lionite | Jenny Dorris, adviser
Division 4 | Overall General Excellence | Top Three
● 1st — Carbondale Community HS | DIAL | Brandi Jones, adviser
● 2nd — Ottawa Township HS | the Senior | Erin Byrd, adviser
● 3rd — Pekin Community HS | Pekinian | Alyson Smith, adviser
Division 5 | Overall General Excellence | Top Three
● 1st — Prospect HS | CREST | Nicole Stoltz, adviser
● 2nd — Edwardsville HS | The Tiger | Amanda Thrun, adviser
● 3rd — Glenbrook South HS | Etruscan | Kristen Porter, adviser
Schools could submit their 2024-25 yearbooks up to the mid-October deadline, ensuring that fall-delivery books were included in the judging. This was the fifth year in the contest’s history in which advisers submitted their entry forms online.
Congratulations to all of our contest participants! We are proud of the amazing work you do each year throughout Illinois. Best of luck on your continuing coverage of the current school year; we can’t wait to see next year’s entries!
