Beyond the Byline: High School Sports Editor John Radtke

High School Sports Editor John Radtke grew up a high school sports junkie, officially starting his journalism career as a sophomore at Burlington Central High School, writing for the school paper and calling in basketball box scores to the Elgin Courier-News.

A native of western Kane County, Radtke began working for the Elgin Courier upon graduation from high school and through his college years at Elgin Community College and Judson University.

After spending time in sports marketing, juvenile corrections and private business, Radtke returned to the Courier in 1987 before joining the Daily Herald as a freelancer in 1995. He was hired full time by the Herald in 1997 and soon after was named Fox Valley Sports Editor, a post he held until 2018, when he was named high school sports editor.

An inductee of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame Media Wing, Radtke has won numerous journalism awards including the Daily Herald's Editorial Excellence Award in 2010, the Illinois Soccer Coaches Association Media Person of the Year and the Illinois High School Association's Distinguished Media Service Award. He was also part of a team of reporters that won a Peter Lisagor Award in 2012 for the newspaper's series on Title IX. Additionally, he won a Copley Bell in 1989 for his reporting on the Elgin Area School District U-46 teachers strike.