NOC Mass Comm students write for VYPE 

Gaining hands-on experience writing sports articles for VYPE magazine are Northern Oklahoma College students Lee Drake and Marcus Powell of Ponca City, and Colton Shultz, of Blackwell.

The three Mass Communications majors have been job shadowing this fall at the northwest Oklahoma high school sports magazine.

One article by Powell about the Maverick women’s soccer team and two articles by Drake have been published by VYPE. Shultz has submitted his first assignment to VYPE. After writing their articles, the students submit them to their Mass Communications instructor, Scott Haywood, who forwards the releases to the magazine.

“This is a great opportunity for our students,” Haywood said. “Not only are they receiving recognition for their writing in a statewide publication, but they are preparing themselves for a future in journalism.”

Roscoe Migliore, sales director for VYPE magazine, said, “The students are doing a great job for us. They have shown a lot of professionalism. VYPE loves working with students and giving them a chance to do some work they can put on a resume.”

The students receive credit for the articles and are building portfolios for their future careers. All three are focused on sports journalism, but Drake and Powell are also interested in sports broadcasting. These two provide play-by-play coverage for area high school games on the college radio station, KAYE-FM, and are the voices of NOC Maverick basketball this season.

All three students write sports articles for The Maverick, NOC Tonkawa’s newspaper. Drake covers the Maverick men’s basketball team while Shultz follows the Mavericks baseball team. Powell writes about the Lady Mavs soccer team and handles special sports assignments.

“It is a win-win situation for our students and businesses to work together,” said Rae Ann Kruse, dean of academic affairs. “The students earn real-world experience at little or no cost to area businesses. The students make crucial networking connections and the employers groom the next generation of workers.”

For information about sponsoring a job-shadowing NOC student, contact Kruse at (580) 628-6341.