THE AWARD: Each year, the IJEA seeks to honor a single outstanding high school media educator who has done exemplary work during this and the previous academic year. Please note that membership in IJEA is not required for this award. Qualified candidates are invited to self-nominate. The committee will consider the following in making its selection:

• Minimum of three years’ advising experience, including this academic year.
• Candidate’s résumé.
• Candidate’s response to the five questions listed below ("QUESTIONS FOR CANDIDATES").
• Work samples of students advised by the candidate during this and/or the previous academic year.
• Letters of recommendation from those who know the nominee's work well.

QUESTIONS FOR CANDIDATES: Candidates for the James A. Tidwell Award, co-sponsored by IJEA and the Eastern Illinois University Department of Journalism, must respond to each of the following five prompts in essay form. Candidates may write a single essay in which they address all of the prompts, or they may write five mini-essays. Responses to each prompt should be limited to 300 words or fewer:

• Describe your journalism teaching/advising assignment, touching on the journalism curriculum, number of student participants, forum status of your student news medium/media and challenges facing your journalism program.
• What recognition have you, your students and their news medium/media received in the past year?
• What specific evidence can you provide of the positive impact your journalism students and their media have had on student culture and the school community?
• What is your plan for getting school officials to recognize the value of the scholastic press and convincing them to support free and responsible student news media?
• How would you use the platform of “Illinois Journalism Teacher of the Year” to address the issues of scholastic journalism?

PRESENTATION: The recipient is honored at the IHSA journalism state final. The award includes an honorarium in memory of Diana Peckham, IJEA co-founder and an IJEA past president.

PREVIOUS RECIPIENTS: For a list of past honorees, click here. Previous recipients and other advisers are encouraged to nominate candidates by gathering and submitting the required materials.

ANNUAL DEADLINE: This form must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. March 1 of the current school year.

PDF OPTION: If you would prefer to fill out and mail in a hard-copy version of this nomination form, you can download our PDF form here. The mailing instructions are included in the form.

NOTE: Asterisks indicate fields in which a response is required.