Illinois Design Educators Association

Summer 2025 - President's Letter

Competition

Congratulations to all of the participants and winners of this year’s competition!  Thank you to everyone who participated at the state and regional level, all of the teachers, IDEA board, regional directors and all who made the competition possible this year.  A special thanks to all the educators who encouraged their students to compete and helped prepare the students for the competition.  And thank you to the parents for helping to support your student and for the many that showed up to our awards ceremony.

We had over 650 students compete across the state at the regional level and nearly 200 students that qualified and competed at the state competition at ISU.  Without all of you, none of this would be possible.  It is always great to see all of the students eager to participate and to show off their skills and talent that they work hard to achieve!

Next School Year

The IDEA board will be meeting this summer to plan and prepare for next year.  Please save the date for the fall ITEC/IDEA conference to be held October 24-25, 2025 at ISU.  The conference hotel moves back to the Uptown Marriott and closer to the ISU campus.

Website and Resources

A lot of new information and resources have been added to the website this past year including an updated competition page with past results and pictures.  Also, check out the Scholarship page with information on how students can apply for the Dr. Ryan Brown Scholarship.  And please let us know if there is anything else you would like to see.

Future IDEA Members

If you know other teachers who would like to join and could benefit from our organization, please encourage them to join.  Membership is $20 if submitted prior to January 1st each year.  Join IDEA

We also need members to help out with leadership roles, competition judges, and ITEC conference presenters. 

Also, encourage your students to consider becoming a teacher within Career and Technology Education.  Over the last several years there have been plenty of openings within Technology Education, including many still open for next school year and beyond.  

Almost Summer!

I hope everyone enjoys the last few weeks of this school year, and has a wonderful summer break!  I hope you have an opportunity to refresh, recharge, and enjoy quality time with family and friends.  We look forward to a bigger and better 2025-2026 for the organization as we continue to work and improve opportunities for both students and educators.  

Sincerely,

Chris Komer – IDEA President

I.D.E.A. Important Dates

October 18th & 19th 2024: ITEC / IDEA Fall Conference

October 18th 2024: IDEA Annual Membership meeting @ Turner Hall after Tour bus returns

Yearly, December 1st: Architectural Design and Engineering Design Briefs will be posted to the competition page.

Yearly, February 1st: IDEA Regional Competition Registration Due

February 13th - March 22nd 2025: IDEA Regional Competition Window

April 12th 2025: IDEA State Competition @ Illinois State University