• It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Sarah Doerner, IJEA’s longest-serving president. Sarah died Nov. 29 in Du Quoin at the age of 86. Services were held Dec. 7. See below for our tribute to this great journalism educator.
  • High school seniors! Get your portfolios ready for the 2025 Illinois Journalist of the Year Contest! Entries will be due Feb. 15.
  • The winners of the 2024 IJEA Yearbook Contest have been announced! Check out our article below for the full listing of honorees!
  • A big thank you to everyone who attended our 2024 Fall Conference, which took place Sept. 20 at Illinois State University. The sessions were amazing! Thank you to all of our presenters!
  • Advisers! Join IJEA today! Annual memberships and lifetime memberships are available. Use our online form or fillable PDF to join!
Illinois Journalism Education Association, 2501 Chatham Road, Suite 200, Springfield, IL 62704

Illinois JEA
Illinois Journalism Education Association, 2501 Chatham Road, Suite 200, Springfield, IL 62704

Illinois JEA
Illinois Journalism Education Association, 2501 Chatham Road, Suite 200, Springfield, IL 62704

Illinois JEA

IJEA Lifetime Achievement Award

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Honoring Those Who Dedicated
Their Careers to Scholastic Journalism

Online Nomination Form

Submission Deadline: March 15

Each year, the IJEA seeks to honor individual retired scholastic media educators for a lifetime of dedication to scholastic media education. Please note that membership in IJEA is not required for this award.

In selecting honorees, the IJEA seeks to recognize those individuals making a long-time commitment to scholastic media education but who are now retired. These can include:

• Those who are retired scholastic media educators and/or advisers of student media
• Those who are or have been strong advocates for scholastic media education

 

Annual Deadline: March 15

The award is presented at the annual All-State Journalism luncheon in June, held in Springfield in conjunction with the Illinois Press Foundation; however, it may not be presented every year.

 

How to Nominate a Candidate

You may nominate a candidate by using our online nomination form below. Please note that we no longer use PDF forms for award nominations.

 

Online Form

Click here to access the online nomination form for this award.

 

IJEA Lifetime Achievement Award Winners

2022
John Gonczy

• Longtime newspaper adviser and journalism teacher at Marist High School in Chicago
• IJEA president and board member
• Tireless proponent of IJEA’s role in promoting and enhancing Illinois scholastic journalism
• Advocate and implementer of institutional changes to ensure IJEA’s long-term stability as an organization, including recruitment of new board members, stewardship of financial investments, and collaboration with fellow scholastic journalism organizations on both the state and national levels

Dr. Sally Renaud

• Journalism Department, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston (Coles County)
• IJEA executive director for 14 years (2005-2019)
• Hosted and served as site organizer for the IHSA journalism tournament finals for more than a decade
• Coordinated the IJEA Yearbook Contest for 17 years (2005-2022)
• Advocate and implementer of institutional changes to ensure IJEA’s long-term stability as an organization, including recruitment of new board members, stewardship of financial resources, and development of strong alliances and partnerships with professional journalists and fellow scholastic journalism organizations on both the state and national levels

2021*
Stan Zoller

• Longtime adviser at Rolling Meadows High School
• Former JEA Regional Director and IJEA State Director
• Pioneer Award from the National Scholastic Press Association
• Distinguished Adviser, Dow Jones News Fund

*Stan was presented his award in person in 2022 due to COVID delays

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IJEA Lifetime Achievement Award