Jay Deegan

Jake Pfeiffer was named the Illinois Journalist of the year on Feb. 23.

Central Times Editor-in-Chief Jake Pfeiffer was named Illinois Journalist of the Year by the Illinois Journalism Education Association (IJEA) on Feb. 23.

Pfeiffer will go on to compete for the national Journalist of the Year award.

Candidates for Illinois Journalist of the Year submit a portfolio that spans the work of their high school journalism career, including samples of writing, photography, design and other journalistic work. As Illinois’ winner, Pfeiffer will now compete for scholarships against the winners of other states in a national competition sponsored by the Journalism Education Association.

Pfeiffer initially learned about his eligibility for this award in late January in his Blended Advanced Media Lab class.

“I thought there’s still a benefit in [creating a portfolio] even if [I didn’t] win so I just kind of figured like it’d be a fun thing to do, and then maybe I’d win, and I did,” Pfeiffer said.

Keith Carlson, Central Times faculty adviser and president of IJEA, supported Pfeiffer throughout this process.

“Just to apply requires a daunting amount of work, so much so that it’s tough to get students to even apply for consideration,” Carlson said. “You almost have to apply with the mindset that you’re doing it for yourself as a sort of resume or archiving activity. I wasn’t surprised that Jake was willing to make the effort and I knew that he had the credentials to be competitive. But it was still a thrill to hear that IJEA saw in Jake what I saw.”