The 2016-17 staff of the IV Leader participated in the Spring 2017 Illinois Community College Journalism Association conference at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, Ill. and received multiple awards.

They received honorable mention in the Multimedia Story category in the open division for their live coverage of the IVCC Basketball games, a venture spearheaded by staff members Tyler Towne, Austin Mueller, Michael Olson, Mason Lucas and Max Moskalewicz, assisted by various other students and IVCC tech staff.

The IV Leader also received 2nd place in the open division for their website. IV Leader online, at IVLeader.com, has seen an increase in regular return readership and when people come, they have been staying longer. Improving the website was one of the goals established at the beginning of the year by Co-Editors-in-Chief Maddi Loiselle and Aelsa Butler.

The staff also took home the Mike Foster Award for General Excellence, the highest award received in their division. Lori Cinotte, IV Leader faculty advisor said that she is so proud of the staff, calling the win “a tremendous accomplishment.”

Representatives from the staff included Co-Editor-in-Chief Aelsa Butler, Senior Photographer Kyle Russell, Opinion Editor Lindsey Bennett, Cartoonist Alex Bennett and Staff Writer Martha Hoffman. The group was chaperoned by part-time speech instructor Paul Butler.