Photojournalist and North Tama alumna Stephanie “Steph” Schroeder pictured covering her first Seattle Seahawks game (a preseason home game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Aug. 7, 2025, at Lumen Field) as Fox 13 Seattle’s principal photographer for sports. This Sunday, she will be in California covering Super Bowl LX from the Seahawks sidelines. PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHANIE SCHROEDER/FACEBOOK

TRAER – Many years have passed since her days schlepping water bottles and tracking stats for the Redhawk football team on the sidelines of Dennis Field, but that doesn’t mean North Tama Class of 2012 alumna Stephanie “Steph” Schroeder has forgotten her roots. And this Sunday, Feb. 8, as she covers the 2026 Super Bowl between the New England Patriots (17-3) and the Seattle Seahawks (16-3) at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. as Fox 13 Seattle’s principal sports photographer, Schroeder’s presence on the sidelines should certainly provide inspiration to any Iowa youngster harboring big dreams for their own future.

Ahead of Super Bowl LX, the newspaper interviewed Schroeder via email following her coverage of the NFC Championship game Jan. 25 during which the Seahawks defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 31-27. In a wide-ranging set of questions, Schroeder traces the path she took to get where she is today – a path that includes spending the first dozen years of her life in rural northwest Oregon near the town of Molino before moving with her parents, Craig and the late Ella Schroeder, to a farm north of Toledo. She attended North Tama Schools, graduating in 2012. Following graduation, she went to Hawkeye Community College where she earned an Associate of Applied Arts in Digital Mass Media. She now resides in Seattle, Wash. She counts her fiancée Wes Morelock, dad Craig, and stepmom Eva (Schroeder) as some of her biggest supporters today.

Schroeder’s interview (below) has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Please describe your position with Fox 13 Seattle and the path you took to get there.

In my last semester of college, I ended up signing on with KWWL Channel 7 as an intern and once I finished school, they hired me on part-time. I worked there as an editor/photojournalist for a year before I ended up moving back to the west coast. Once I was back in Oregon, I took a job in Medford at KDRV Newswatch 12 as a full-time editor/photojournalist for a year, before moving up north to Portland and getting a job with Fox 12 Oregon. I started there as a part-time weekend editor just to get my foot in the door, and eventually after about a year they promoted me to a full-time photojournalist! I was there for just under five years in total, and in 2022 I made the jump to Seattle. I first was hired by KIRO 7, but I was only there for about seven months or so before I hopped over to Fox 13. I worked in the news department for a little over two years before making the switch to Sports! In total, I did about 10 years of general news before I pivoted fully to sports.

Schroeder’s camera equipment positioned on field at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. on Oct. 12, 2025, during the Jacksonville Jaguars v. Seattle Seahawks game. The Seahawks took down the Jaguars, 20-12. PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHANIE SCHROEDER/FACEBOOK

Why did you move to sports coverage and what does your job today entail?

I didn’t initially have a goal of covering sports. I’ve always been a creative-minded person and the world of videography/photography really appealed to me so I decided to pursue a career in it. The Digital Mass Media program at Hawkeye (Community College) was brand new at the time I was entering college, so I decided to give it a shot, and I had so much fun! But honestly, at the time, I thought that my skills would eventually take me to Hollywood, or to some advertising agency. News didn’t really cross my mind until my second year of college. I can’t remember what class it was, but I distinctly remember there was a point where our teacher had us watch “All The President’s Men” … Obviously, the Pentagon Papers/Watergate Scandal was a pivotal moment for journalism, but I’d never really understood the gravity of what happened until I watched that movie for the first time in that class. It was like a lightbulb started to flicker in my brain; the concept of being a journalist had never occurred to me before but once I had the thought it was hard to shake it. Granted, the movie itself is about print journalism and doesn’t have anything to do with videography, but it sent me down the rabbit hole of ‘I wonder if I could work for a TV news station.’ That’s when I looked into KWWL, found their internship program, and the rest is history. I fell in love with the industry and never looked back.

A photojournalist does a lot! We’re primarily responsible for capturing video and audio content from whatever story we’ve been sent to, but we also edit our stories together on our laptops, and run live shots. … On a typical day I am going to a practice facility, or a game, or some other press conference/event to get b-roll, interviews and then if I have any on-air talent with me, I would also be shooting their standups or a live shot. This is a pretty typical workflow for a photojournalist; the only difference for me is my focus on sports.

I have a large camera (Sony XDCAM PDW-700), along with a full kit of lights, tripods, microphones, etc. and I travel around with that gear to various sports-related stories in our area. My camera is about 14 lb with everything attached to it (battery, top light, microphone, etc), and my tripod is around 9 lb. So like 23-ish when I’m carrying them around. That doesn’t include if I have a LiveU on my back (it sits like a backpack), which is a device that allows us to transmit video and audio from our camera back live. That’s probably another couple of pounds on my back. We are lucky to have carts that we can wheel everything around in, especially when I have other gear such as my lights with me. But there are many instances where I can’t bring the cart so I just have to hoof it with all the gear packed onto me.

What teams/games do you cover?

One of the many live shots Schroeder has been doing for Fox 13 Seattle in San Jose, Calif. this past week ahead of Super Bowl LX. The NFL set up the compound with a view of Levi’s Stadium for media outlets to utilize. PHOTO BY STEPHANIE SCHROEDER

The professional sports games I cover are all related to our local teams. So, the NFL games I go to are Seahawks games, and the MLB games I go to are Mariners games, etc. We have a lot of teams here; Seahawks (NFL), Mariners (MLB), Sounders (MLS), Reign (NWSL), Storm (WNBA), Kraken (NHL), Torrent (PWHL), as well as a Rugby and Cricket teams, plus we have college teams we cover from both the University of Washington (Huskies) and Washington State University (Cougars).

Have you ever covered a Super Bowl before? What will your work week look like?

This is my first time attending or covering a Super Bowl! We’ll be out there for the whole week leading up to the game; we fly down on Feb. 1 and won’t be heading home until the 9th! There’s eight of us flying down and we’ll be covering everything from press conferences and official team appearances, to fan events, radio row, and anything else going on. Plus, loooots of live shots! It’s going to be a lot of work and a lot of long days for all of us but we’re all super stoked for the opportunity.

On game day I will be at Levi’s Stadium, on the field, shooting the game! I’ve been on the sidelines for the majority of the Seahawks games this year shooting highlights, and I’ll be doing the same for the Super Bowl. I’m super excited for it! Shooting highlights for the Seahawks has by-far been my favorite part of this job, and the fact that I get to do that at the Super Bowl in my first year is absolutely crazy. Honestly it hasn’t fully set in, and I don’t think it will until I’m on the field.

Following the game, we’ll have a post-game show to talk about what happened, and then that Monday we’ll do a few final things in the morning before flying home. If the Seahawks win, we’ll be hitting the ground running back in Seattle to prepare for the big parade! If not, we’ll get a bit of a break before we have to start thinking about Mariners’ spring training. The sports cycle continues!

Schroeder on the sidelines at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. as she shoots video for Fox 13 Seattle’s Seahawks pre-game show ahead of the NFC Championship played on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. “I had to bundle up because it was pretty chilly!” Schroeder told the newspaper. PHOTO BY STEPHANIE SCHROEDER

I have to ask, are you a Seahawks fan? Are you a Super Bowl fan?

Yes, and yes! I’ve always been a casual Seahawks fan because it was the closest big NFL team to where I originally grew up in Oregon. Even though I’d never really been up to Seattle before we moved here, I had a bit of an attachment to the team. As for the Super Bowl, we didn’t watch it every year but I do have some fond memories of watching a few of them with both my family and my fiancé’s family!

While at North Tama, what activities were you involved in? Did anything (or anyone) help guide you to the career you have today?

While I spent most of my extracurricular time doing artsy things like theater, I did participate in a few sports here and there – softball, volleyball, and track. But I didn’t do them for longer than a year. The biggest thing was I helped manage the high school football team for two years, and that’s where I really grew to understand and love the sport. The first year I was a manager was my sophomore year, and that’s the year our team went on to win the State Championship Class A Title (2010). It was an incredible run and that was my first taste of post-season energy. We were down 20 points, but clawed our way back to a lead and won the game 43-34, and that feeling of watching this team work their tails off and claim victory was amazing to be a part of. I was really bummed I couldn’t do it for a third time, but I was a senior and other obligations got in the way. I’m grateful for that time though, because it really cemented in me a love of football, and an appreciation for the work and heart that goes into playing a sport.

How excited are you about covering the Super Bowl?

I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am. It’s a mix of excitement and nervousness, because this is my first time covering an event this big. Millions of people will be watching this game. MILLIONS. And I get a front row seat to the action. I get to be ON THE SIDELINES. That’s the most exciting part for me; never did I think my career would lead me to an opportunity like this. I’m so grateful for it though, and I’m going to enjoy every second of it! … This entire season has been like that really, and I know that these moments will stay with me for the rest of my life. It’s been a joy to be a part of it.

Any advice you’d like to share with current North Tama students regarding pursuing their own dreams after high school?

Honestly, I would say don’t be afraid to do what you love. You’ll probably run into a lot of people who have a lot of opinions about how you should shape your future, but life is too short to spend it doing something you don’t love. Don’t put yourself in a box; the world is a brighter place when people allow themselves to be who they want to be and do what they want to do.