Congratulations to IJEA member school Edwardsville on winning the 2026 IHSA journalism tournament! IJEA members Huntley and Prospect finished second and third respectively! Congrats to all IHSA state finalists!
Congratulations to the 2026 Illinois Journalist of the Year, senior Light Dohrn of the University of Chicago Laboratory High School!
Journalism educators! Consider joining IJEA for 2026-27! Annual memberships for 2026-27 will be available in May. Lifetime memberships are always available. Use our online form or fillable PDF to join!
We are delighted to announce IJEA's partnership with Northwestern University's Medill School! We are now headquartered at Medill. Thank you, Medill, for your support of high school journalism!

Illinois Journalism Education Association, Medill School, Northwestern University, 1845 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-2101

Illinois JEA

By Randy Swikle, IJEA board member and retired journalism teacher

Randy Swikle, CJE, now retired from Johnsburg High School, was the 1999 Dow Jones News Fund National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year. A co-founder of the Illinois Journalism Education Association in 1988, he was twice elected president of the organization, served as JEA state director and was an inaugural member of the IJEA Hall of Fame.

All content by By Randy Swikle

When schools take free speech seriously, so do students

By Randy Swikle, IJEA Board Member
October 23, 2015

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By Randy Swikle