The Washington Journalism Education Association (WJEA) has been made aware of sexual misconduct investigations involving Chris Twombley, a former Mercer Island High School teacher and journalism adviser.

Twombley received WJEA’s Adviser of the Year Award and the Fern Valentine Freedom of Expression Award in 2019. His reported misconduct directly contradicts WJEA’s mission and ethical standards.

While the awards were conferred based on Twombley’s accomplishments in scholastic journalism, recent reported findings — including those from the school district’s own investigation, which found credible evidence of policy violations — raise serious concerns. After careful review of that information, WJEA has voted to rescind the two awards. Allowing him to keep them would be incompatible with our commitment to student safety, ethics and integrity. 

Our thoughts are with any students who may have been affected by this conduct, and we reaffirm our dedication to fostering safe and ethical scholastic journalism environments. 

This decision does not erase legitimate journalistic accomplishments by other members of that year’s cohort, nor does it diminish the broader efforts of scholastic journalism educators around our state.

Rather, it reflects WJEA’s unwavering stance that those we honor must represent the highest moral and professional standards at every stage of their career.