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Yes, My School Has a Radio Station
Well, hi everyone. Thanks for reading. I go to Piper High School – I know, cringe, but I haven’t yet been stabbed. Hahaha. My school is pretty great, actually. We have a radio station. Yeah. A REAL radio station. With an Arbitron rating of +1, meaning we have 10,000 listeners at any given time. The call letters are 88.5fm WKPX. We reach Sunrise, Ft. Lauderdale, and all of Broward County. I began training there as an After school Intern at the end of my 10th grade year. From there, I took my first air check – a required two air checks is needed to go on air as a DJ. Then I took a class in radio for a semester my junior year and passed my second air check – third time’s the charm! Then, I was off DJing, and I love it.
I was a Disney/Movie Soundtrack kind of girl until I started radio. I was inspired by the Y100 Morning Show. I wanted to have a show like that – bantering and all - and although I don’t yet have a show, I’m hopeful for next year. But, since I got involved with the station, I have fallen in love with Alternative Rock – not so much Punk, though!
I moved up pretty high last year, high enough to be able to help run the station during the summer. So, about ten of us come in every Tuesday form 11-1pm, of course we all stay longer, but I don’t think our station manager, Mr. Farley, cares about the overtime.
Okay, normally I’d blog about today’s radio experience – because it is that fascinating – but today the station was closed due to the room being cleaned. It was inevitable. However, next Tuesday we will be back on air!
So, I will tell about last week’s radio experience. Walking into the station, you’d see Ryan, Andrew, Maddie, Rodney, and a few others. We even ended up with Morgan Levy, whose guest appearance Andrew referred to as being as big as “Tom Cruise being on Oprah.”
I DJed by myself mainly for the first hour, and luckily the Denons and Taskcams were plugged in already, because I really don’t like having to reach behind them and fiddle with the wires I can’t see. So, I slipped in my first set and picked out two PSAs to play at the 11:15 break, along with a Reader PSA. At every :15 and :45, we play 2 PSAs and 1 Reader. At the :30 and :00, we play 1 Promo – and at the top of the hour is our hourly ID: It is now 12:00 on South Florida’s Radio Alternative, 88.5fm WKPX, Sunrise, Ft. Lauderdale, and all of Broward County. Unless you’re Mad Maddie, then it’s all three halves.
Rodney helped me back announce and show enthusiasm at the sets. Once everyone is in the studio, though, we have our own little party. There’s dancing, sitting, singing, and texting. Of course, if you’re DJing, you need to be on top of things. Andrew took over after me, then Maddie, then me again, and then Deanna. During the school year, we will put on our favorite 5 minute song, god bless. Clocks by Coldplay. This either means a bathroom break, or, more likely, a trip to the vending machine for a Mountain Dew. Hey, we’re not always so perky! But I played it so the next DJ had time to get ready.
But, what’s great about radio is the breaks. I love the bantering that goes on in the studio. Last week, Andrew downloaded a bubble wrap app on his iPhone, and Maddie was furiously pecking the screen with both hands to beat his high score, which she did twice by the time it was time for me to leave. Andrew announced she had beat his score over the air, and as soon as we were off, he was inspecting his phone, saying she’d scratched his screen. She denied it, and Morgan wiped off the smudge. All better. Well, you had to be there. They are a trip.
The best set we played last week was Pretty and Nice’s “Piranha” and “Tora Tora Tora” along with Hot Hot Heat’s “Harmonicas and Tambourines.” Best songs ever.
We are on live every week day during the school year, so if you want to call us up with a request, our number is (754)322-1818. And we’re on every Tuesday from 11-1pm during the summer. Nova Southeastern University takes over for us at 7pm every night, so feel free to call them up, also.
Our format is Alternative Rock, Punk, and Ska. We really have just about everything.
I was a Disney/Movie Soundtrack kind of girl until I started radio. I was inspired by the Y100 Morning Show. I wanted to have a show like that – bantering and all - and although I don’t yet have a show, I’m hopeful for next year. But, since I got involved with the station, I have fallen in love with Alternative Rock – not so much Punk, though!
I moved up pretty high last year, high enough to be able to help run the station during the summer. So, about ten of us come in every Tuesday form 11-1pm, of course we all stay longer, but I don’t think our station manager, Mr. Farley, cares about the overtime.
Okay, normally I’d blog about today’s radio experience – because it is that fascinating – but today the station was closed due to the room being cleaned. It was inevitable. However, next Tuesday we will be back on air!
So, I will tell about last week’s radio experience. Walking into the station, you’d see Ryan, Andrew, Maddie, Rodney, and a few others. We even ended up with Morgan Levy, whose guest appearance Andrew referred to as being as big as “Tom Cruise being on Oprah.”
I DJed by myself mainly for the first hour, and luckily the Denons and Taskcams were plugged in already, because I really don’t like having to reach behind them and fiddle with the wires I can’t see. So, I slipped in my first set and picked out two PSAs to play at the 11:15 break, along with a Reader PSA. At every :15 and :45, we play 2 PSAs and 1 Reader. At the :30 and :00, we play 1 Promo – and at the top of the hour is our hourly ID: It is now 12:00 on South Florida’s Radio Alternative, 88.5fm WKPX, Sunrise, Ft. Lauderdale, and all of Broward County. Unless you’re Mad Maddie, then it’s all three halves.Rodney helped me back announce and show enthusiasm at the sets. Once everyone is in the studio, though, we have our own little party. There’s dancing, sitting, singing, and texting. Of course, if you’re DJing, you need to be on top of things. Andrew took over after me, then Maddie, then me again, and then Deanna. During the school year, we will put on our favorite 5 minute song, god bless. Clocks by Coldplay. This either means a bathroom break, or, more likely, a trip to the vending machine for a Mountain Dew. Hey, we’re not always so perky! But I played it so the next DJ had time to get ready.
But, what’s great about radio is the breaks. I love the bantering that goes on in the studio. Last week, Andrew downloaded a bubble wrap app on his iPhone, and Maddie was furiously pecking the screen with both hands to beat his high score, which she did twice by the time it was time for me to leave. Andrew announced she had beat his score over the air, and as soon as we were off, he was inspecting his phone, saying she’d scratched his screen. She denied it, and Morgan wiped off the smudge. All better. Well, you had to be there. They are a trip.
The best set we played last week was Pretty and Nice’s “Piranha” and “Tora Tora Tora” along with Hot Hot Heat’s “Harmonicas and Tambourines.” Best songs ever.
We are on live every week day during the school year, so if you want to call us up with a request, our number is (754)322-1818. And we’re on every Tuesday from 11-1pm during the summer. Nova Southeastern University takes over for us at 7pm every night, so feel free to call them up, also.
Our format is Alternative Rock, Punk, and Ska. We really have just about everything.
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Comment by Alban Harrison on July 13, 2009 at 10:22pm - that's awesome I want to do tv broadcast!
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