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  • High school seniors! Submit your portfolios to the 2025 Illinois Journalist of the Year Contest! We are now accepting applications. Entries are due by Feb. 15.
  • 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.
  • 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

Congratulations to our 2024 Yearbook Contest winners!

Congratulations to our 2024 Yearbook Contest winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Board Member November 20, 2024
More than 30 schools participated in this year's contest, which was for books covering the 2023-24 school year. Congratulations to all of our yearbook advisers and students! We are proud of the amazing work you did last year! Best of luck on your continuing coverage of the current school year. We can't wait to see the entries for 2024-25!
UPDATE: Our 2024 Yearbook Contest deadline has passed. Good luck to your students!

UPDATE: Our 2024 Yearbook Contest deadline has passed. Good luck to your students!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Board Member May 27, 2024
We want recognize the amazing work your students have done documenting the 2023-24 school year! Our 2024 Yearbook Contest is now open and will accept submissions through Oct. 15. Please note that this deadline is a month earlier than usual. By using this earlier deadline, we hope to have the results back to you by Thanksgiving!
Congratulations to our 2024 Newspaper & Digital News winners!

Congratulations to our 2024 Newspaper & Digital News winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Newspaper Contest Coordinator April 28, 2024
Congratulations to all of our participating advisers and students! This year's competition received more than 1,000 entries from a total of 30 schools. The quality of entries was outstanding! Best of luck to everyone as you wrap up the school year. You make us proud to be associated with Illinois scholastic journalism!
Montage of 2023 publication winners

Congratulations to our 2023 Newspaper & Digital News winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Newspaper Contest Coordinator May 14, 2023
Illinois high school journalists truly rose to the occasion during the 12 months covered by the 2023 IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest to document the post-pandemic return to in-person learning and extracurriculars throughout the state. Once again, these students made us proud to be associated with Illinois scholastic journalism!
Our 2023 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest is open for entries!

Our 2023 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest is open for entries!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Newspaper Contest Coordinator February 15, 2023
[MARCH 15 UPDATE: The 2023 contest is now closed for entries.] We have continued to partner with BetterBNC to provide a smooth and efficient platform for submitting entries in the IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest. Our 2023 platform is now up and running! The entry deadline is Wednesday, March 15. We look forward to recognizing the great work of your students. Good luck to all!
Calling all 2021-22 yearbooks! The 2022 IJEA Yearbook Contest is now open for entries through Nov. 15

Calling all 2021-22 yearbooks! The 2022 IJEA Yearbook Contest is now open for entries through Nov. 15

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Board Member June 22, 2022
[NOV. 15 UPDATE: The 2022 contest is now closed for entries.] And we have a new contest address! Due to the retirement of longtime contest coordinator Dr. Sally Renaud, EIU will no longer be our yearbook home. Instead, the new mail-in destination for participating yearbooks will be Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette. The postmark deadline is Nov. 15, 2022. Good luck to all!
Congratulations to our 2022 Newspaper & Digital News winners!

Congratulations to our 2022 Newspaper & Digital News winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, Illinois JEA Board Member May 10, 2022
With a pandemic affecting nearly every aspect of their lives, Illinois high school journalists truly rose to the occasion during the 12 months covered by our 2022 competition. Overcoming one challenge after another, these students made us proud to be associated with Illinois scholastic journalism!
Our 2022 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest is open for entries!

Our 2022 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest is open for entries!

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Newspaper Contest Coordinator February 24, 2022
We have joined with BetterBNC to provide a new and more efficient platform for submitting contest entries. The new platform for the IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest is now up and running! The entry deadline is Friday, March 25. Good luck to all!
NewspaperWinnersMontage

Changes on the way for IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Contest

Dave Porreca, CJE, IJEA Newspaper Contest Coordinator December 19, 2021
Although many things about our annual newspaper competition will remain the same, we will be partnering with BetterBNC to provide a new and more efficient platform for submitting entries. Check inside for more info. (UPDATE: The new contest platform is up and running! Check inside for the link. Thank you, IJEA members!)
IJEA names write-off winners

IJEA names write-off winners

November 1, 2021
Although IJEA’s fall conference was canceled this year, a free virtual version of our popular write-off contest was held in late October — and the results are in. Congratulations to our winners in news writing, feature writing and editorial writing!
2021 All-State Team

Congratulations to our 2021 All-State Journalism Team!

The IJEA is proud to announce the members of the 2021 All-State Journalism Team. The 11 students selected for this year's honor were nominated by their advisers in recognition of the indispensable contributions they made to their publications during 2020-21. Congratulations to these MVPs who rose to the occasion in this most challenging of years!
NewspaperWinnersMontage

Congratulations to our 2021 Newspaper & Digital News winners!

Dave Porreca, CJE, Illinois JEA Board Member June 21, 2021
From the initial lockdown to the arrival of multiple vaccines, Illinois high school journalists saw it all during the 12 months covered by our 2021 competition. Facing one challenge after another, IJEA student journalists and their advisers truly rose to the occasion! Check inside for links to the winning entries.
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