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  • Our 2025 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest is now open for entries! Advisers, we want to recognize your students' great work! Deadline is March 15.
  • Congratulations to IJEA Executive Director Linda Jones on receiving the national JEA's Lifetime Achievement Award! She will be honored at the 2025 Spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle.
  • Congratulations to IJEA member Leslie Fireman, journalism adviser at West Chicago High School, on winning the national JEA's Rising Star Award! She was honored at the 2024 Fall JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Philadelphia.
  • Congratulations to IJEA Hall of Fame member Stan Zoller, MJE, on being the inaugural winner of the National JEA's Candace and John Bowen Adviser First Amendment Leadership Award! He was honored at the 2024 Fall JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Philadelphia.
  • 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.
  • 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

How to Join IJEA If You Are Not a Member


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Advisers: You must be an IJEA member for your students to be eligible for this contest. Our annual membership fee is $25, and we offer a lifetime-membership option for a fee of $250. For more information about the benefits of joining IJEA, click here.



BECOMING AN IJEA MEMBER

To join the Illinois Journalism Education Association so your students will be eligible for this year’s contest, follow these steps:


1. Choose and fill out a membership form.

You may submit our online membership form OR download and mail in our PDF membership form. If you choose the latter, use the same mailing address as listed below for payment.


2. Pay your membership fee. 

Regardless of which type of form you choose, mail your $25 membership fee to:

Jenn Galloy, IJEA Treasurer
7405 Kenicott Lane
Plainfield, IL 60586

All necessary payment instructions are included in both the online and PDF membership forms.


3. Use our grace period if you need time.

If you are not a member at the time you submit your students’ entries, you will have a seven-day grace period that begins with the contest deadline on March 15. We must receive your membership form and your $25 membership fee within seven days of the submission of your final entries for your students to become eligible.

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How to Join IJEA If You Are Not a Member