Emilia Savini
Reporter
While most radio stations are broadcasted from high-tech studios, Roman Cebulski is looking to have NCHS students run their own station out of the school’s hidden underground.
Journalism and TV Broadcasting teacher Mr. Cebulski hopes to expand the broadcasting horizons of NCHS by starting a student-run radio station. “The Career & Tech Education (CTE) department is always looking for ways to expand our offerings and our courses,” he said.
With students attending classes and having minimal free time throughout the school day, Mr. Cebulski plans on reaching listeners through mobile devices. “If we’re streaming all the time then anytime that students are free, they can tune into the radio broadcast on their phone,” Mr. Cebulski said. “Or if they are at home, on their computer, and also at school during a free period through a computer as well.”
Mr. Cebulski believes the school station will appeal to the student body over regular radio stations because of the mutual connections between students and their interests in music. According to Mr. Cebulski, “I think that having a wide variety of students with a wide variety of interests, that they will get to hear more music that they associate themselves with, more so than a regular radio station.”
Not only will the radio station play music, but it will also provide information to the student body. “This will provide students with what they need to know like announcements or the weather or what’s going on after school or on the weekends,” Mr. Cebulski said.
Moreover, Mr. Cebulski hopes that the students will get a hands on learning experience and be able to independently decide what goes on the station. “The same way that NCTV is student run, I would really like them to make their own decisions about programming and content.”
With this potential course coming into place next year, the efforts of Mr. Cebulski and his TV Broadcasting students have been geared towards preparation. “We are just in the infancy of it, and what’s going to happen right now is that our broadcasting club will start meeting,” Mr. Cebulski said. “We are going to use this year to develop the radio station and build it from the ground up.”
Not only does this plan require the support of both students and teachers, but the Board of Education must approve the proposal as well. “Once we feel that we have our basis we will propose it as a course to the Board of Education and hopefully get their support and make it an actual course that students can take,” Mr. Cebulski said.
The Record Club, a group of music enthusiasts at NCHS listens to their latest music favorites every Friday in Mr. Gallo’s room. According to senior Alex Rose, a member of the Record Club, the radio station’s purpose would be to bring the members of the record club and other students together in their appreciation for music, “Music benefits the school by bringing people together from different grades and groups and creates a deeper understanding and appreciation of music,” she said.
Sophomore John Bemis, another member of the Record Club, agrees with Alex, and also sees how important music can be to students. “I think without music a lot of students would lose an important form of expression,” he said.
In order to gain insight into the workings of a student-run radio station, Mr. Cebulski has turned to St. Luke’s School. Their radio station, WSLX, has been up and running for 40 years. “I am certainly looking at existing programs at other schools and taking things that they do and figuring out how it works best for us,” he said.
