Prairie Fire: Season 3 - Episode 3 - Nov2025
This month, we celebrate Prairie Fire’s Mid-America Regional Emmy® wins with a special edition of the show. We’ll go behind the scenes with the production team, hear from the creators, and revisit the award-winning segments that highlight the people and stories of Central Illinois.
Illinois Public Media (IPM) is pleased to announce that “Prairie Fire,” has been awarded FIVE 2025 Mid-America Emmy® Awards across five distinct programming categories, including taking home the Emmy® for “Best Magazine Program” for the second year in a row.
The awards ceremony was held on Saturday, October 25, 2025, the Mid-America Emmy® in St. Charles, Missouri.
“Our win for Magazine Program for the second year in a row is a real thrill for the ‘Prairie Fire’ team” said host and producer Sarah Edwards, “because it really underscores the excellence and thought we put in to making every
episode as good as it can be. ‘Prairie Fire’ represents the best of PBS programming produced at the local level.”
The Prairie Fire team also earned Emmy® awards in the following categories:
Human Interest – Short Form Content (up to 10 minutes)
Born in Chicago, Shannon Voss battled childhood homelessness and poverty but overcame and graduated from high school as Valedictorian. His life changed forever as a sophomore at the University of Illinois when he was violently attacked and sexually assaulted. The attack and ensuing illnesses left him with severe brain injury, heart damage, paralysis and the inability to speak. During the next two years of therapy, Shannon found a second family in his therapy team, relearning how to walk, how to use an assistive communication device, and how to perform daily tasks. After four more years of extensive therapy and rehabilitation, Shannon continued his education and enrolled at Parkland College, earning a 4.0 grade point average, and delivered the commencement address in 2024. Today, Shannon is a poet and motivational speaker, who inspires people nationwide to set goals and keep them no matter the circumstances.
DJ Roach, Tinisha Spain, and Taylor Plantan
Education/Schools – Short Form Content (up to 10 minutes)
Meet the young creatives at the Illinois Summer Youth Music Hip Hop Camp. Each summer, students spend a week building community with each other while learning from music educators and professionals how to produce beats, write lyrics, engage a crowd, and tap into their creative spirit. Prairie Fire documents a week at camp as it unfolds, highlighting the history and hallmarks of hip-hop culture and showcasing the talent of the up-and-coming generation of artists. Here, the kids are the experts. University of Illinois professors, music educators, and music professionals come together to create a space that centers on each one of the camper's talents, experiences, and interests.
Taylor Plantan, DJ Roach, Daniel Clarke, and James Treichler
Informational/Instructional – Short Form Content (up to 10 minutes)
Located in Champaign IL, Fresh Press Paper utilizes agricultural waste and transforms it into handmade paper and paper art. Associate Professor of Graphic Design Eric Benson walks us through the process, and we pull our own sheets of paper with studio managers and artists e. ainsley and Meredith Hislope.
Taylor Plantan, DJ Roach, and Tinisha Spain
Entertainment – Short Form or Long Form Content
In March of 2023, singer Leah Marlene met five-time Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer Graham Edwards and songwriter John Pennell at The Doghouse Studio in Nashville to record what would become the theme song for the PBS show "Prairie Fire". Marlene, a native of Normal, IL, was already well-known nationally from season 20 of "American Idol." She makes a stop at the WILL-TV studio for a very special live-performance of the song.
Sarah Edwards, DJ Roach, Taylor Plantan, Daniel Clarke, and James Treichler
The “Prairie Fire” Emmy-winning production team includes Edwards, fellow producers DJ Roach, Taylor Plantan, and Tinisha Spain, along with cinematographer Daniel Clarke, and cinematographer and audio engineer James Treichler.
The full list of 2025 Mid-America Emmy® award winners is available here at: https://emmymid-america.org/emmy-awards/nominees/
This month, we also get a visit from the Development team to learn about some ways you can help support local shows like Prairie Fire, and get a look at some exciting thank you gifts!
About “Prairie Fire”
Reimagined and brought to life once more, “Prairie Fire” is a new take on WILL-TV's beloved magazine program from the mid-1990s. Rooted in storytelling, "Prairie Fire" brings viewers cinematic documentaries, profiles, and performances from downstate Illinois. The show airs on local PBS stations across the state of Illinois, including Nine Network St. Louis and WTTW Chicago.
