Central Catholic Students Serve as Guest Media Members

Central Catholic High School senior, Joel Drees, and junior, Cooper Sadowski, served as guest media members during the nationally televised Toledo Rockets football game vs. Northern Illinois at the Glass Bowl on November 5.

This unique opportunity allowed the students to receive official media credentials, granting them access to capture the sights and energy of a Division I college football game up close and gain real-world experience in a dynamic, professional setting.

Joel, who is the editor of the Centric school newspaper, acted as a reporter in the press box, and Cooper acted as a photographer on the field.  They both toured the pressbox and the media center, learned about programs offered by the University of Toledo, and learned how journalism and photography are done for a televised game.

Cooper is the lead photographer for the Centric newspaper and has his own equipment, which he used at the football game.  “I learned that you could work in photography without having to major in it, which was interesting,” he said.  “I would like to major in engineering in college, so this helped me think about how I could still work in photography while doing other things that I’m interested in.”

Joel was able to sit in on the post-game press conference, meet Rockets’ head coach Jason Candle, and talk with ESPN announcers and other personnel.  “I also had a chance to interview Braden Awls (Class of 2023), which was fun because he played football at CCHS and was a senior when I was a freshman,” Joel said.  “I want to study business or political science in college, but I love journalism, so this was a great experience and gave me some things to think about.”