High school photo winners

Here are the Feature Photography winners from Saturday's IHSA Journalism Sectional competition at NIU-DeKalb. Top three place-winners' work is shown. All three students qualified for the state competition this Friday at EIU in Charleston.

Entries were judged by professional journalists from northern Illinois. Judges did not see the names or schools of the photographers.


First place: Christina Wales, Rockford Jefferson

Outside the Founders Memorial Library, Ellen Desitter, Junior, enjoys the rainy weather

reading her favorite book.

While cooking up lunch at NIU’s Nitrorun, Victor Diaz from Inbodens Meats, helps prepare the runners with a delicious after treat.

Preparing for her next test, 3rd year student of NIU, Shannon Wapole, spends her rainy afternoon in the Law Library. 

Second place: Jordan Geigle, Huntley

One of the many huskies around campus, this mascot is ready to take a photo of the runners in the 5k run.

Drumming instructer John Potter shows the auditioning, incoming freshman a para-diddle technique at the tryouts for the NIU drumline in the Music Building.

Senior Christian Plott checks out a book at the Founders Memorial Library for a final paper before he graduates.

Third place: Isabel Diaz De Leon, Rockford East

Valeria Diaz De Leon, high school student, works on her assignment for the IHSA Journalism Sectionals.

Mike DeCampa searches resources for his history project.

Albert Davis, high school student, waits for his friends, that are in the IHSA Journalism competition, outside.

Register today for NINA Spring Conference

Today is the deadline to register for next Friday's NINA Spring Conference at NIU-DeKalb. Contact Jim Killam. One speaker substitution: Terry Pastika, executive director of the Citizen Advocacy Center, replaces Beth Bennett of the Illinois Press Association. Our other speaker is Cara Smith, public access counselor for the Illinois Attorney General's office.

Terry Pastika joined the Citizen Advocacy Center as a community lawyer in 1999 and became its executive director in 2001. In her tenure as a community lawyer, Ms. Pastika organized the Center's three suburban Civic Fairs which brought together more than 150 community organizations and civic leaders throughout the Chicago metropolitan region, coordinated the Center's Citizen Training Corps program which was recognized regionally and nationally as "civics boot camp with clout," and launched the Center's youth civic education program. Ms. Pastika provides community organizing assistance, legal assistance, and when necessary litigates to help citizens access the democratic process and remove anti-democratic or illegal policies that prohibit citizen participation in government decision-making. Ms. Pastika speaks at conferences and law schools on topics such as the First Amendment, open government laws, TIF, home rule, election laws, campaign finance, and community empowerment. She has authored several law journal articles and co-author of the Citizen Advocacy Center’s 2009 release of its Midwest regional study on FOIA and OMA laws titled, Accessing Government: How Difficult is it?. Beyond working to strengthen democracy at the local level, Ms. Pastika has participated in statewide reform initiatives that have included TIF, ethics, campaign finance, and most recently FOIA.

Ms. Pastika was part of the team of community lawyers that received an award for "Most Innovative Advocacy" in the Chicagoland region and has been guest speaker at the John F. Kennedy School of Politics at Harvard University. Ms. Pastika was nationally recognized in 2003 by the Washington D.C. non-profit, OMB Watch, as one of a handful of people inducted into the first "Public Interest Rising Star Hall of Fame" for leading a new generation in pursuit of social justice. Ms. Pastika graduated from Marquette University in 1992 and Creighton University School of Law in 1997. She is a member of the California, Nebraska and Illinois Bar.