Tara Owen
News Editor
Hello! I am Tara Owen, a junior mass communications major.
Being born and raised in Alva, I have been a Ranger fan for as long as I can remember. My freshman and sophomore years, I was a member of the Ranger Cheer Team. I am also a member of the Northwestern Scholar Ambassadors and a member of the Red and Black Honor Society.
I also had to opportunity to work for the Ranger Agency, which provides real-life experiences working with clients to improve their strategic communication plans.
When I’m not on campus, you can find me working at the Daisy Village on the downtown square.
I am currently the news editor at the Northwestern News. I have previously had the opportunity to both write for the student newspaper and take photos. However, this is my first time to be a staff member. I am excited to be able to report on events not only on campus but also in my hometown.
This year, with the majority of staff being new, we are eager to make some updates to our student newspaper. We appreciate your patience as we gain new knowledge each day. We are working toward getting you a form of campus news. The staff is beyond thankful for the support from students, faculty and staff that we have already received.
Kristen Kirtley
Assistant Editor
Hi, Rangers!
I hope everyone’s semester is going well so far. My name is Kristen Kirtley, and I am working as the assistant to the editor for the Northwestern News this year.
I’m a senior and majoring in mass communications with a minor in phycology. I have many interests, but would ultimately like to become a news reporter one day.
I think we have a great team of reporters rounded up, and I can’t wait to work with and learn from each of them. My main goal that I’d like to achieve while working for the paper is providing quality information and news for everyone at Northwestern.
As reporters, it is our responsibility to provide factual, accurate information about things going on on campus such as sports, clubs, first-year faculty and staff, activities and so much more. I hope to make a positive impact not only for the Northwestern News, but for Northwestern itself.
Besides mass communications and writing, I also enjoy reading, baking, decorating, traveling and spending time with friends and family. Growing up, I enjoyed making skits and videos with my friends for fun. I also loved competing in FFA speech competitions and always wanted to pursue acting, so being behind a camera has always been something that I enjoy.
Another goal of mine this year is to improve my writing and reporting skills. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity, and can’t wait to serve as the assistant to the editor for the Northwestern News this semester.
Jade Campbell
Editorial Editor
My name is Jade Campbell, and I joined the Northwestern News while not being a mass communications major.
Every Thursday of the Fall and Spring semesters last year, some friends and I would grab the paper and read it throughout the day. We would use it for information about events on campus and general discussion topics. I loved the newspaper and I decided to join!
This year, I am one of the editors.
My major is actually Instrumental Music Education. I hope to one day become a band director of a great program here in Oklahoma. While this course of action took an obscenely long time to decide, it was an obvious choice. I have loved music for my whole life and becoming a music major to share that love of music seemed like destiny.
At Northwestern Oklahoma State University, I am the saxophone section leader for the Ranger Marching Band. We perform at each home football game and other events around campus. It is a great time and an amazing sense of community that anyone can be a part of.
While the fine arts are my passion, I still love editing and writing for the newspaper. It is a wonderful opportunity and I cannot wait to give my best to readers over the course of this next year!
Joshua Christopher
Sports Editor
My name is Joshua Christopher and I am from Los Angeles, CA.
I am a Mass Communications major and a part of the football team here at Northwestern. From Junior College to University, the journey was not as easy as you may think but definitely worth it. I, being a man of faith, knew I would still be doing what I love but I did not think it would be in Oklahoma.
My experience here so far has been great: meeting new people, earning a starting spot on the team and, most importantly, growing my relationship with God. I am thankful for the opportunity to be the Sports Editor this year and I plan to continue to lead and inspire in all that I do.
A quote that I live by is “It’s not about what you want, it’s about what are you willing to go through to get what you want” –Inky Johnson.
Alli Schieber
Features/Entertainment Editor
Hello Rangers! My name is Alli Schieber and I am excited to be the Features/Entertainment Editor for the Northwestern News.
I am looking forward to doing some fun and different things with my page this year. Some of these include highlighting weird holidays that are going on, lots of reviews and maybe some fun recipes.
I am also excited to see more interesting and fun things with the other pages and to hopefully win more awards this year.
We are hoping to have more photos and graphics this year. This will hopefully make more people want to pick up the paper to see their photo in it.
A little more about me is that I am a junior and mass communications major and I am also president of Delta Zeta.
I am from Okeene, and I am happy that I grew up there. I have three sisters and one of them also attend Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
Some things that I like to do other than write is read, watch reality shows and hangout with my family.
My favorite book genres are romance and thriller and my favorite reality shows are Big Brother, American Idol and Bachelor in Paradise. My favorite thing to do with my family is play board games and go camping, though I really only like camping during our family reunion.
I also enjoy watching football and my favorite team is the Kansas City Chiefs.
I am even lucky enough to get to go to the Christmas game with my family this year.
When I graduate in a couple years I am wanting to do social media marketing or event coordinating for sports teams. My dream job would be to work in the NFL or for the Olympics. Though that goal may be a little ambitious, I hope to achieve it one day.
Jaylee Ross
Online Manager/Photograher
My name is Jaylee Ross and I’m a freshman here at Northwestern.
My major is Mass Communications and I’m in theatre. I’ve lived in Crescent, Oklahoma my entire life where I was active in FCCLA, softball, cheer, One-Act, and speech. Ever since I was little, I wanted to play softball at the college level. I spent countless hours at pitching lessons and on the field. That dream came to an end when I got a severe injury that killed my muscle from the shin down. I’ve had two surgeries to help my walk become normal, but it’s still a struggle every day.
After that injury, I was limited on what I could and couldn’t do. That’s when I got involved in speech. I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I never thought I would fall in love with it and continue it in college.
I went to speech competitions where I did humorous duets and humorous interpretations. One-Act was a little bit different. We only did dramatic pieces, which is not up my alley, but I managed to get in the top three actors from Crescent at regionals my senior year.
My mom has been the cheer coach since 2003 so I grew up with it and was kind of forced to do it, but I’m so happy I did. Crescent has never won a state title in cheerleading but the class of 2023 made history. I’m a three-time state champion in cheer.
My team and I won back to back in the competitive competition and we won once in the game day competition. We also got academic state champion at both competitions.
Cheer was the highlight of my senior year because we made history and my mom got the gold medals and trophies she deserved.
Derrick Galindo
Advertising Manager
Hello Northwestern News readers, I’m Derrick Galindo, the advertising manager for this college newspaper.
I graduated from Alva High School and I am majoring in mass communications. Some things that I enjoy are video games, cooking and listening to music. If there was one thing I am most known for on this campus, it is my adamance to bike despite the rapidly changing weather conditions. Yes, I was insane enough to bike through that heat wave last week and was still on time for my classes. If I’m not known for that, then I’m probably known for my lacking knowledge of film and television in general. If you do see me walking around campus, break out your Top 10 favorite movies of all time, and I will more than likely disappoint.
Working for the newspaper has been such a joy, especially because I have been keeping in touch with the Alva Community as much as I can. I may not be an Alva native, but the people welcomed me nevertheless. I love stopping by all the businesses downtown and getting the opportunity to chat with them, whether it be advertisement information, current events in Alva or just some good things about their day.
Along with the people of Alva, I also enjoy working with the staff as a whole on Northwestern News. I am one of the two returning staff members from last year. I’m happy to see the new faces working with us now, and I am excited to see new people join our team.
Outside of that, I’m not sure what goal I have for this year. There are plenty of directions I could take and focus on them solely, but I want to keep a focus on all of them.
For the newspaper itself, I hope to see a year of great writing, fun photos and of course, new advertisements! For my future, I want to do something with graphic design and communication. Whether that is large scale marketing or small-town newspapers, I can see myself being happy with either choice.
