When students and faculty heard the news that Sandburg High School was planning to run its own radio station, many reacted as if it were no big deal.
“Students and teachers think it’s just something that’ll play in the lunchroom,” said 16-year-old John Diver, a senior and the station’s chief engineer.
It’s a much more serious undertaking, said teacher Mike White, who has worked for a year to secure a Federal Communications Commission license. Sandburg is expecting to win federal approval to take over one of the few available frequencies in the Chicago market this month, he said.
More than 25,000 people within a 4-mile radius of the Orland Park school will be within the “clear path listening area” and will soon be able to tune in to a new music station at 88.7 on the FM dial, White said. WCHS is made possible thanks to a $90,000 donation from Andrew Corp. of Orland Park for a state-of-the-art studio and to the lobbying efforts of U.S. Rep. Harris Fawell (R-Ill.), White said.
The students in the school’s new Introduction to Broadcast class have been in the radio studio recording programs as if they’re already on the air, White said. A separate television studio has been busy with sports and news shows that broadcast on Jones Intercable’s Channel 4.
Radio air time will be from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily except Sundays and will feature a seven-second delay to maintain control over language during call-in programs, White said.
