Rodney Lowe Wins JEA Lifetime Achievement Award

EVANSTON, IL — Rodney Lowe was named a winner of a lifetime achievement award from the Journalism Education Association, less than a week after his final day at Evanston Township High School. Lowe taught journalism and advised the student newspaper, The Evanstonian, for more than 30 years until his recent retirement.

"Throughout my career, I just wanted my students to be good writers, responsible reporters and to be proud of the fact that they were part of an awesome newspaper," Lowe said.

ETHS District 202 board member Jonathan Baum nominated Lowe for the award, according to the JEA. He said he knew from conversations with parents and alumni of the Evanstonian that Lowe helped all his students "become the best they could be."

“Rodney Lowe is a man of courage with an unsurpassed dedication to journalistic integrity and the role of a free press in our democracy, and he passes this on to all of his students,” Baum said.

Lowe is "one of the best teachers I have ever had," Evanstonian Executive Editor Katy Donati told Patch.

"I can not think of a better recipient to receive this award," she said.

Lowe, a Northwest Indiana native, lives in Michigan City, Indiana where he cares for his nearly 90-year-old mother. He has spent the last 15 years commuting more than two hours each morning to ETHS, according to a farewell feature in The Evanstonian.

“I hope I raised the bar and made the Evanstonian one of the best publications in the state of Illinois," Lowe said last month.

During his tenure, the paper has won numerous journalism awards, most recently including state runner up in 2014 and state champion in 2015. In 2016, The Evanstonian was named the top high school newspaper in the state in the IHSA journalism competition. Lowe was also awarded an award of merit from the Illinois State Board of Education for the 2016-2017 school year, according to ETHS.

Lowe will he honored April 13 at the JEA's Spring National High School Journalism Convention in San Francisco.