With High School Radio Day Coming up on April 23, it seemed like a good time to do a round-up of recent high school radio news. First and foremost, it’s been thrilling to see that so many school districts and high schools are in the running for new LPFM licenses. One such group, Jasper High School in Jasper, Indiana, was granted a LPFM construction permit on February 10th. Up until the point the station has been operating as a legal, part 15 unlicensed campus-only FM station known as “The Scratch.” With its newly granted LPFM construction permit (PDF) in hand, the station is looking to increase its power to 100 watts so that it can soon be heard across the local community over 93.7 FM. According to WFIE 14 News, the goal is to “relaunch the radio station by April 23, which is National High School Radio Day.”
In other high school radio news:
WKHS Celebrates 40th Anniversary
Kent County High School radio station WKHS 90.5 FM in Worton, Maryland is celebrating its 40th anniversary this week and plans to air special programming on Friday, March 28 in order to honor its four decades on the air. According to the Star Democrat, “To celebrate, the station will have a special broadcast featuring songs from each year of the station’s history, 1974 to 2014. The anniversary broadcast will run about five hours, beginning about 8:30 a.m.” According to the WKHS website, the station operates at an impressive 17,500 watts and can be heard for 60 miles in every direction. WKHS also is a strong proponent for student radio, stating on its website, “In a time when many educational stations are being scuttled to divert funding elsewhere, we are proud to continue to inform and entertain our listening audience, while training the broadcasters of tomorrow.”
KVHS Film Footage from 1983
For those interested in high school radio history, I was just reminded about some raw footage taken at Clayton Valley High School radio station KVHS in 1983. The five chunks of film give a great sense of the look and feel of the 1980s rock radio station. One clip features a DJ talking about metal music and whether or not it’s Satanic and others include interviews and station shots. Check out the rad 1980s fashion in this bit of footage (and hear music by the Scorpions). KVHS still broadcasts today, following its home school’s conversion to a charter school.
High school radio awards for WVSH
It’s been awards season lately and high school broadcasters were honored at the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters conference. Students from Huntington North High School radio station WVSH 91.9 FM were among those who picked up awards.
KMIH Does Live Sports Play-by-Play all Season
Students from Mercer Island High School radio station KMIH-FM (aka Hot Jamz) in Washington State recently did the play-by-play during a girls basketball tournament in Tacoma, Washington. According to the Mercer Island Reporter, “Throughout the entire 2013-2014 season, KMIH-FM, the Mercer Island High School radio station, has sent its student radio team to broadcast both boys and girls basketball home and away games…”
