Illinois JEA

Congratulations to our 2026 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Newspaper Contest Coordinator • April 27, 2026

Take a bow, Illinois high school journalists! This year our annual IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest received nearly 900 entries from a total of 30 schools. In recognition of the outstanding work that Illinois high school journalists produced from March 2025 to March 2026, we are proud to announce our 2026 winners. Check inside for the results!

2026 All-State Journalism Team

April 26, 2026

2026 All-State Journalism Team All-Stater Alex Brudvik Isabelle Robinson Atticus Ball Addison Stone Emma Weintraub Stella Rankin Michalina Sotka Carson Ryan Audra...

University of Chicago Lab’s Light Dohrn wins 2026 Illinois Journalist of the Year

February 27, 2026

Congratulations to Light Dohrn, a senior from University of Chicago Laboratory High School in Chicago on being named the 2026 Illinois Journalist of the Year by the Illinois Journalism Education Association. ...

Update: IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest

February 4, 2026

Last year, a new fee structure was introduced for the Newspaper and Digital News Media Contest. The new structure kept the same price of the school entry fee, but limited the number of entries to five. ...

Remembering Founding IJEA Member, Randy Swikle (1945-2025)

Katie Fernandez • December 15, 2025

We are saddened to announce the passing of one of IJEA's founding members, Randy Swikle. Swikle was IJEA's first president serving from 1988 to 1991 and then again from 2000 to 2001. Swikle taught and...

Congratulations to our 2025 Yearbook Contest winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Board Member • November 25, 2025

Thirty-five schools participated in this year's contest, which was for books covering the 2024-25 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 2025-26!

Fall Conference Keynote Speaker Announced

September 8, 2025

We are honored to announce Carol Marin, Political Editor at NBC5 Chicago and the Director of DePaul University's Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence as the our keynote speaker for the fall...

Meet the 2025 All-State Journalism Team – MVPs of their school publications!

Linda Jones, IJEA Executive Director and Dave Porreca, CJE • June 9, 2025

We are proud to announce the members of the 2025 IJEA All-State Journalism Team! The 19 students selected for the honor comprise our largest All-State Team in the program's 21-year history. The honorees were nominated by their advisers in recognition of the indispensable contributions they made to their publications during 2024-25.

Congratulations to our 2025 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Newspaper Contest Coordinator • April 20, 2025

Take a bow, Illinois high school journalists! This year our annual IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest received nearly 900 entries from almost 30 schools. In recognition of the outstanding work that Illinois high school journalists produced from March 2024 to March 2025, we are proud to announce our 2025 winners. Check inside for the results!

York Community High School’s Kate Brody wins 2025 Illinois Journalist of the Year

Linda Jones, IJEA Executive Director, and Dave Porreca, IJEA Contest Committee Chair • March 31, 2025

Kate is IJEA’s 36th Journalist of the Year and the first from York Community High School! She has been an award-wining journalist at her school since her freshman year. The senior is co-editor-in-chief of the online news site This is York and the magazine York-hi. Kate will now compete for national honors against the top high school journalists from other states. Congrats, Kate!

Congratulations to our 2024 Yearbook Contest winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Board Member • November 20, 2024

More than 30 schools participated in this year's contest, which was for books covering the 2023-24 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 2024-25!

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!

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