The Observer earned 6 awards at the Illinois Community College Journalism Association (ICCJA) spring conference.  The awards were for all community college journalism work for all of 2021.

The Observer staff earned honorable mention place for General Excellence, which recognized the best newsletter. The Observer was recognized for its Dec. 13 newsletter.

Two Observer staff members earned first place honors. Shelby Anne Taylor, who served as Observer editor-in-chief during fall 2021 before graduating from ECC, won for her profile of ECC student.

Lina Fasihi, a current staff photographer, won for best news photo for their picture of an ECC chemistry class.

Current Observer editor-in-chief Dominic Di Palmero earned two photography awards. He won 2nd place for sports photo and 2nd place for feature photo.

Taylor also won 2nd place for Reporter of the Year for her collection of news stories.