Say Hello to Tyler Saxton, Our New Studio Videographer and Editor

First, let me begin by saying hello! It is an honor to be working at Ruah Woods Institute. I love Catholic education and am happy to be serving Catholic schools around the nation. I’m also excited to be working in Catholic ministry. Using my gifts and talents to serve the Church has been a constant desire. It’s been a crazy journey for me to arrive here in Cincinnati, but I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me at Ruah Woods.

I was born and raised in a small town near Youngstown, Ohio. I am the oldest of three boys and my two younger brothers are named Travis and Trevor. Being born into a Catholic family, I have attended Catholic school my entire life. I am a proud graduate of Ursuline High School in Youngstown and Franciscan University of Steubenville, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in 2020. One of the reasons I’m most excited to work at Ruah Woods is because we primarily serve Catholic schools and educators and I’m grateful for the gift of Catholic education and teachers in my own life. Finally, I am probably still considered a newlywed, as I recently was married in November 2021 to my wonderful bride, Anne Saxton (née Jakubek). Our first anniversary is coming up this month and I can’t believe how fast this year has gone by. My wife and I met at Franciscan University during my sophomore year, quickly becoming close friends and eventually dating. Ultimately, we discerned that the Lord was calling us to the Sacrament of Matrimony and the rest is history.

My Catholic faith is important to me, as it has been for most of my life. Growing up we attended mass as a family at a small parish in Newton Falls called Saints Mary and Joseph Church, where I also went to elementary school.  Throughout my childhood, I was involved in my faith at school and at the parish. As an altar server, one thing that uniquely impacted me was serving at funeral masses. However, as I entered my teen years, like so many, I fell away from the faith for a time. Fortunately, in my last two years of high school, I had a reversion back to the faith culminating at a Steubenville Youth Conference at Franciscan University, where my Catholicism truly came to life. By this time my family had switched to St. Rose Parish to be closer to Youngstown. I became integrally involved in Catholic activities at our new parish and at my high school. I continued to altar serve, became an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist, while also assisting at youth group. During this time, I had developed a passion for music, so I learned to play several instruments which led to becoming a music minster at several parishes in the area. Naturally, I was enriching and deepening my faith during these latter high school years.

When the time came for me to head to college, I chose to attend Franciscan University of Steubenville because of the devout faith life apparent on campus. As a young college student, I felt that God may have been calling me to the priesthood. In order to spend some time being intentional about my vocational discernment, I joined Franciscan University’s Priestly Discernment Program (PDP). My time in the PDP was a blessing including the many lifetime friendships I made. My Catholic faith grew tremendously due to the formation I was receiving during my discernment. Eventually, I met my future wife and discovered that the Lord was in fact calling me to marriage. This led to me discerning out of the PDP and into a dating relationship with Anne. My wife and I love the Catholic Church! We attend mass daily, I work in Catholic ministry, and we support the church however we are able. We are passionate about our Catholic faith and want to see it flourish in our young and growing family.

Ultimately, I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy early success in my young career beginning as I was earning a degree in Communication Arts focusing on Digital Broadcast & Production. During my time at Franciscan, I worked as a student not only in the Marketing and Communications Department as a Videographer and Project Manager, but also in the Communication Arts Department as a Lab Assistant and Lab Supervisor. With this experience I was able to earn a full-time position before I even graduated from FUS. I began working at a small television station near Steubenville in Wheeling, West Virginia called WTRF Channel 7 News. I started there as a Photographer (Videographer) and Multi-Media Journalist. In this role I was shooting video for the news, conducting interviews, writing and editing stories for publication, and editing videos of news stories for daily broadcast. After six months at the station, I was promoted to Director and Master Control Operator. With this new title, I directed live newscasts four times a day, directed commercials and shorts for the station, directed talent, and did everything I could to make our newscasts as professional and high quality as possible. I stayed at the televisions station for about a year and a half before returning to my Alma Mater to work.

Franciscan University had an open position in their ITS department for which a friend encouraged me to apply. Therefore, I spent the next year working as the Audio-Visual Technical Coordinator. In this role I managed audio and video for all live events at the university. This opened up some amazing experiences such as helping produce a live show with Jordan Peterson, meeting Ed and Beth Sri, and more. I also spent that summer helping to run the Steubenville Conferences. I trained a team of staff in video production, provided technical support, and did everything I could to improve the production quality of our renowned conferences.

After working a year back at my Alma Mater, I felt that the Lord was calling me to something different. Providentially, that is when a position perfect for me at Ruah Woods Institute became available. My current role is as Studio Videographer and Editor and I couldn’t be more overjoyed about this opportunity. My wife and I, of course, moved to Cincinnati from Steubenville and are very excited about this new adventure the Lord has put before us.

I’m so happy to be contributing my gifts and experience to Ruah Woods Institute,  especially because I am creatively serving Catholic students and teachers with the beautiful universal truths of our Catholic faith. I am passionate about my new role and can’t wait to see where this journey takes me in the future. I hope to continue to grow in my faith, grow professionally, and grow in virtue as I devote my time and efforts working here.

I hope you enjoyed reading and learning a little bit about me. Please keep me and my family in your prayers! We pray for you, our patrons and audience daily. God bless you!

Written by,
Tyler Saxton,
Studio Videographer and Editor at Ruah Woods Institute