With another state tournament in the books, attendees and participants noted that both the number of students and schools, as well as the quality of entires in this year’s IHSA Journalism competition, were far above average. From broadcast to news writing to yearbook theme development, the judges were impressed with the creativity and knowledge of the competitors.

In its 11th year at Eastern Illinois University, IHSA Journalism State provided students not only the chance to showcase their knowledge of the Fourth Estate, but also to make connections with other student journalists from around Illinois. Staffs compared notes, publications, T-shirts and cheer volume from the opening ceremony to the awards presentation — with many gaining new friends or followers along the way.

Here are the winning teams for IHSA Journalism State for 2015-2016:

In addition to the top three teams that took home IHSA State trophies, a number of schools left with a medal or two, or at least, many positive memories that they will look back on for years to come.

The top six winners in each of the individual categories were noted by engraved medals by IHSA officials.

Also, in the next few days, IHSA will also post the winning entries for each category.

IJEA would like to thank all advisers, students, judges, and all others who helped make this such a meaningful annual event. We will see you next year!

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