Illinois JEA

UPDATE: Our 2024 Yearbook Contest deadline has passed. Good luck to your students!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Board Member • May 27, 2024

We want recognize the amazing work your students have done documenting the 2023-24 school year! Our 2024 Yearbook Contest is now open and will accept submissions through Oct. 15. Please note that this deadline is a month earlier than usual. By using this earlier deadline, we hope to have the results back to you by Thanksgiving!

Meet our 2024 All-State Journalism Team, MVPs of their school media!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Board Member • April 30, 2024

For the past 20 years, the IJEA All-State Journalism Team has recognized those students who have proven themselves indispensable to their respective school media. These are the student journalists who are the “MVPs” of their publications, dedicated and energetic team leaders whose main contributions often occur behind the scenes.

Congratulations to our 2024 Newspaper & Digital News winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Newspaper Contest Coordinator • April 28, 2024

Congratulations to all of our participating advisers and students! This year's competition received more than 1,000 entries from a total of 30 schools. The quality of entries was outstanding! Best of luck to everyone as you wrap up the school year. You make us proud to be associated with Illinois scholastic journalism!

Nominate your staff MVP for the IJEA’s All-State Journalism Team by April 5!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Board Member • March 29, 2024

[PLEASE NOTE: Our extended deadline has passed. Good luck to everyone who was nominated!] We've extended the All-State Journalism Team nomination deadline to 11:59 p.m. Friday, April 5! The IJEA All-State Team recognizes the MVPs of Illinois high school journalism staffs — those indispensable students who do much of their work behind the scenes.

Naperville Central’s Jake Pfeiffer wins 2024 Illinois Journalist of the Year

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Contest Committee Chair • February 26, 2024

Jake Peiffer, editor-in-chief of the Central Times, has been named the 2024 Illinois Journalist of the Year. Jake is IJEA’s 35th Journalist of the Year and just the second from Naperville Central High School. Jake will now compete for national honors against the top high school journalists from other states. Congrats, Jake!

UPDATE: Deadline for 2024 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest extended to Friday, March 22

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Newspaper Contest Coordinator • February 25, 2024

In recognition of the time crunch that many of our members face at this time of the school year, we have extended by one week the deadline for submitting entries to the 2024 IJEA News & Digital News Media Contest. The deadline is now 10:59 p.m. Friday, March 22. Good luck to our members and their students!

Congratulations to our 2023 Yearbook Contest winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Yearbook Contest Co-Coordnator • January 9, 2024

Nearly 40 schools from throughout the state participated in this year's contest, which was for books covering the 2022-23 school year. Congratulations to all of our yearbook advisers and students! We are proud of the amazing work you did last year! Best of luck on your continuing coverage of the current school year. We can't wait to see the entries for 2023-24!

Congratulations to our 2023 All-State Journalism Team!

Linda Jones, IJEA Executive Director and Dave Porreca, CJE • May 16, 2023

The IJEA is proud to announce the members of the 2023 All-State Journalism Team. The 12 students selected for this year's honor were nominated by their advisers in recognition of the indispensable contributions they made to their publications during 2022-23. Congratulations to these MVPs who rose to the occasion in yet another challenging year!

Congratulations to our 2023 Newspaper & Digital News winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Newspaper Contest Coordinator • May 14, 2023

Illinois high school journalists truly rose to the occasion during the 12 months covered by the 2023 IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest to document the post-pandemic return to in-person learning and extracurriculars throughout the state. Once again, these students made us proud to be associated with Illinois scholastic journalism!

Edwardsville High School student Caspar Dowdy named 2023 Illinois Journalist of the Year

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA At-Large Board Member • March 5, 2023

Caspar Dowdy, a senior at Edwardsville High School, has been named the 2023 Illinois Journalist of the Year. Caspar is IJEA’s 34th Journalist of the Year and the first from Edwardsville High. Caspar will now compete for national honors against the top high school journalists from other states. Congrats to Caspar and EHS adviser Amanda Thrun!

Our 2023 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest is open for entries!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Newspaper Contest Coordinator • February 15, 2023

[MARCH 15 UPDATE: The 2023 contest is now closed for entries.] We have continued to partner with BetterBNC to provide a smooth and efficient platform for submitting entries in the IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest. Our 2023 platform is now up and running! The entry deadline is Wednesday, March 15. We look forward to recognizing the great work of your students. Good luck to all!

Congratulations to our 2022 Yearbook Contest winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Yearbook Contest Co-Coordnator • January 8, 2023

With creativity and style, 2021-22 yearbook staffs told their stories of a school year in which the rituals, milestones and traditions of high school life were celebrated precisely because they had become part of normal life once again. In recognition of that work, the IJEA is proud to announce the winners of our 2022 Yearbook Contest!