This year, the annual High School Radio Day tradition has expanded to a full week, from April 21 to April 28, under the moniker High School Radio Week. For those wishing to pick a singular day to celebrate, Wednesday, April 25th is the official date for the 7th annual High School Radio Day. More than 80 stations are expected to participate.
Various festivities took place over the weekend, including a 50th anniversary shindig for Lyons Township High School radio station WLTL in LaGrange, Illinois. I visited the station back in 2014 and was intrigued by its long history, so it’s gratifying to hear of Saturday’s event.
More than 100 people stopped by WLTL for the anniversary gathering, which included an open house, a WLTL documentary film screening, and a first-hand account from one of the station’s founders, Terry Marsala. According to the Chicago Tribune,
Marsala, along with co-founder Wayne Terrell, spent two years setting up what would be WLTL. The two boys were in the school’s amateur radio club and both of the students were interested in broadcast radio. Orville Warning, a physics teacher, sponsored the radio club and he suggested the boys could broadcast out of some rooms in the Vaughn Building. When that building was built in the early 1950s, it included radio broadcast rooms with microphones in order to broadcast games and music performances.
On the west coast, VCS Radio in Vacaville, California kicked off High School Radio Week by celebrating Vinylthon (which was organized by College Radio Day). Station Manager Ralph Martin (who you may recall from Radio Survivor Podcast #94 – “The High School Station that Went HD”) wrote in with an enthusiastic recap, telling us,
What was it like to stay up all night doing a radiothon for a high school radio station? Ask just about any broadcast teacher; especially around about the second day of the last hour of an all-nighter! You’ll still get a thumbs-up; we’re a spirited sort!
There’s nothing like kids spinning vinyl like we used to do, and it’s more amazing when it’s to kick off National High School Radio Week, April 21 – 28, 2018! That’s why we did it this last weekend! 24 hours all LIVE through the night with guests and live music and records, and all to celebrate an entire week of special recognition of high school’s contribution to the radio broadcast landscape!
Martin also provided an overview of what some high school radio stations have planned for High School Radio Week this year for Radio World. I’ll note that Martin is the mastermind behind the National High School Radio Network, which is a group of high school radio stations that since fall, 2016 have been taking turns producing live programming every Wednesday afternoon/evening. In honor of the week, why not tune in to this week’s National High School Radio Network broadcast from WAHS at Avondale High School (Auburn Hills, Michigan) on Wednesday, April 25 at 3pm PT/6pm ET?
High school radio has a long and storied history, dating back to the early days of radio, so it’s worth flashing back to some of my prior posts about high school radio’s back story as well as taking a look at our archive of high school radio articles. Happy High School Radio Week!
High School Radio History + High School Radio Coverage on Radio Survivor
Where is the Oldest High School Radio Station in the United States?
Digging into the Early History of High School Radio Station KBPS
Radio Survivor’s high school radio coverage
