Niles West's Lauer to Receive Honor at National High School Journalism Convention

Niles West High School teacher and Niles West News (NWN) adviser Evelyn Lauer has been singled out to receive two awards in the field of scholastic journalism.

She will be honored as a Special Recognition Adviser by the Dow Jones News Fund during the National High School Journalism Convention held in November in Washington, DC. Lauer is one of four teachers selected for this national honor. She was chosen based on the quality of her students’ work, her service to scholastic journalism, as well as other accomplishments. Lauer will receive access to Poynter Institute webinars plus subscriptions to WSJ.com courtesy of the publishers of The Wall Street Journal.

In addition, Lauer has been named a 2014 Nancy Becker Newspaper Adviser of the year by the Kettle Moraine Press Association (KEMPA). She will be honored at the Advisers’ Luncheon at the KEMPA Fall Journalism Conference at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater on October 17. Lauer was nominated for the award by last year’s Niles West News editor-in-chief Alyssa Guzman.

“Evelyn is a leader in her field, and what is remarkable is how quickly she has emerged as a leader,” said Sanlida Cheng, Niles West Director of Humanities.

Lauer has guided the Niles West News through unchartered waters, since the publication went digital, over four years ago. The NWN is a four-time finalist in the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) Online Pacemaker Contest, which recognizes outstanding high school publication websites, winning in 2011 and 2013. NWN has also won the Best Newspaper Website from the Illinois Journalism Education Association, and editors have received accolades such as NSPA’s Story of the Year, and an invitation to join Illinois’ All-State Journalism Team. Along with the guidance of Eric Lueder, the other NWN adviser, the NWN has become the first place to look for news about the school, and in 2013, the website celebrated over 1,000,000 page views.

Lauer is a Certified Journalism Educator, as well as the Publications/Public Relations Chair of the Journalism Education Association.

Visit www.nileswestnews.org.

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