Two members of the journalism teams have received a prestigious statewide honor.
Light Dohrn and Elspeth LaCroix-Birdthistle have been selected for the All-State Journalism Team, which recognizes student journalists deemed “most valuable players” by the Illinois Journalism Education Association.
Light is the Midway’s arts and entertainment editor, and Elspeth is on the U-Highlights staff and was on the photojournalism team last year.
Since 2005, 21 U-High students have been recognized. For the third consecutive year — following recognitions in 2023 and 2024 — two U-High student journalists have been named to the All-State Team.
Light, a junior and incoming editor-in-chief for the 2025-26 Midway, expressed joy in being selected and felt appreciated for her work.
“It is really wonderful for me to feel like I am making the people on the Midway proud,” Light said. “I write for the Lab community, and it’s always lovely to know that what you’re doing is positively affecting the world and to know that you’re doing a good job at what you want to do.”
Elspeth, a junior, said that taking pictures is a way to bring readers into a story and is grateful that she was selected.
“I feel really honored because it’s a big accomplishment and a hard thing to get,” Elspeth said.“I think it’s important to have images in [journalism] because it conveys emotions and helps tell a story, and it’s really important to take pictures because it captures the story and the history.”
