We are proud to announce the members of the 2025 IJEA All-State Journalism Team! The 19 students selected for the honor comprise our largest All-State Team in the program's 21-year history. The honorees were nominated by their advisers in recognition of the indispensable contributions they made to their publications during 2024-25.

Take a bow, Illinois high school journalists! This year our annual IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest received nearly 900 entries from almost 30 schools. In recognition of the outstanding work that Illinois high school journalists produced from March 2024 to March 2025, we are proud to announce our 2025 winners. Check inside for the results!

Kate is IJEA’s 36th Journalist of the Year and the first from York Community High School! She has been an award-wining journalist at her school since her freshman year. The senior is co-editor-in-chief of the online news site This is York and the magazine York-hi. Kate will now compete for national honors against the top high school journalists from other states. Congrats, Kate!

So that we may continue to use the Better BNC platform as a submission and organizational tool for our annual Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest, the IJEA board recently voted to approve a modified fee structure for participating schools. The primary change is that after a school's first five entries, each entry will cost $5. We thank for understanding our efforts to be good stewards of our resources.

Sarah Doerner, IJEA's longest-serving president, died Nov. 29 at the age of 86. After teaching for 37 years, the final 21 in Du Quoin District 300 in Perry County, she served IJEA in many capacities, including president from 2006 to 2016. Her dedication to scholastic journalism was second to none. Read on for tributes to this wonderful educator.