Washington High School
Massillon, Ohio

Kyle James

Class of 2012

How did you use your WHS Alumni Scholarship?

I took my WHS Alumni Scholarship to Ithaca College in upstate New York where I graduated with two degrees: a B.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications and a B.A. in Sports Studies. I was involved in many student organizations on campus and won a Campus Life Award my senior year, which was given to the top 10 students who had the largest impact on the Ithaca College community during their time there.

What has your schooling done for your career?

After being involved with DECA in high school as a part of my CTE curriculum, I was able to hone my love for marketing & advertising during my time at Ithaca College. After college, I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the IRTS Media Fellowship and worked at Havas Media as a fellow on the LVMH suite of brands. I then shipped up to Boston to work full-time in the advertising field as a Media Supervisor for Mediahub, where I have been ever since.

In my short time at Mediahub, I’ve worked on brands such as JetBlue, L.L. Bean, Chipotle, and Bloomin’ (the parent company of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse). My job is to figure out where ads are supposed to run after they’ve been made so the right people see them, so if you’ve ever seen an L.L.Bean commercial on TV around Christmas, it was my team who put it there!

I absolutely love my job, and had it not been for Massillon’s CTE program, I do not know if I would have found it as quickly as I did (or at all).

What keeps you busy outside your career?

Living in New England, there is never a shortage of outdoor spaces to explore – and I have been doing my best to see as much as possible! I try to plan my weekends around hiking trails/mountains around the region, visiting beaches, kayaking lakes, and patronizing outdoor breweries. When not reconnecting with nature, I try to relive my glory days in a few intermural sports leagues and captain a dodgeball team called “Ballz II Men”. I am also a member of the Ithaca College New England Region Alumni committee and work to plan events for alumni living in the region. Last, but not least, I take every opportunity I get to heckle Boston sports fans and instruct them why Ohio sports teams are better.

How do you stay connected to Massillon?

Aside from reading the WHS Alumni Association newsletter each issuance, I also try to get back to Massillon as much as possible, which ends up being at least four times a year. My parents, grandparents, and many other family members live in the area and, as much as I love Boston, nothing comes close to the special place in my heart that Massillon has! Every year since I have graduated high school, I’ve been to at least one Massillon football regular season football game and when we make the playoffs, I usually get a second one in as well!

What is your favorite memory of being a “Tiger”?

So many! It is hard to choose, as the culmination of memories is what really made my time at Massillon special! In the end, it is a bit of weird one that stands out for me. My senior year I broke my leg playing soccer. In the coming weeks, my soccer team rallied around me, my drama coach gave my jester character a new “jig” for the fall play that was easier on my leg, the Media Arts & Comms. crew figured out a way to get me safely on the roof on the stadium to do play-by-play for the football games, and the Washingtonians re-choreographed a few songs to ensure I could still go on stage. In what could have been a very tough time, everyone was able to adapt and work with me to ensure my senior year was as unaffected as possible by my leg. If that is not indicative of the Tiger spirit, I don’t know what is!

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