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  • We are delighted to announce IJEA's new partnership with Northwestern University's Medill School! We are now headquartered at Medill, and our new executive director is Katie Fernandez, CJE, senior program coordinator of Medill's Teach for Chicago Journalism program. Thank you, Medill, for your support of high school journalism!
  • Journalism educators! Join IJEA today! Annual memberships for 2025-26 and lifetime memberships are available. Use our online form or fillable PDF to join!
  • Yearbook advisers! We are now accepting entries for the 2025 IJEA Yearbook Contest! The postmark deadline is Oct. 15, 2025, for books that cover 2024-25 school year.
  • Congratulations to IJEA member schools Huntley H.S. and Prospect H.S. on co-winning the IHSA journalism state title! The schools tied for 1st place at the IHSA finals April 25 in Normal.
  • Congratulations to IJEA Executive Director Linda Jones on receiving the national JEA's Lifetime Achievement Award! She was 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.
Illinois Journalism Education Association, Medill School, Northwestern University, 1845 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-2101

Illinois JEA

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

Illinois JEA

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

Illinois JEA

Free Speech

Still unclear on how HB 5902 affects Illinois advisers, students? This Q&A will help!

October 19, 2016

Note: This information is courtesy of Frank LoMonte of the Student Press Law Center. If you have additional questions, please contact the SPLC through their legal request site, by email, or call (202)...

Full text of HB 5902: Speech Rights of Student Journalists Act

Full text of HB 5902: Speech Rights of Student Journalists Act

October 19, 2016

Public Act 099-0678 HB5902 As Passed  AN ACT concerning education. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: Section 1. Short title. This Act may...

Free Speech

When schools take free speech seriously, so do students

By Randy Swikle, IJEA Board Member October 23, 2015
That's what Randy Swikle learned during his 25 years at Johnsburg High School. Sure, free speech is risky, but when a school builds a culture of trust, students show time and again that they'll live up to the responsibilities they're given.
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Free Speech