While school is out for the summer, many students spend their time working, traveling or just staying home. This was the case for a majority of the school except for two seniors who dedicated their time to running Millard West’s one of a kind radio station, The Uproar.
Since January, Millard West was the first school in the nation to pilot the High School Radio Project in partnership with the Nebraska Broadcasters Association. For the first few months, the crew that ran the station was very small in number, but put forth the best product they could until summer came around. Seniors Logan Moseley and Nathan Delaney wanted to keep the station new and refreshed over the summer, so they devised a plan to keep everything up to date.
“Every Thursday I would go to the “NBA” (Nebraska Broadcasters Association) offices and meet up with Jim Timm there,” Moseley said. “We would talk about potential ideas for the High School Radio Project during the school year, then I would add in some music, and create new media that Jim wanted us to work on. It’s a lot easier than I thought but there are harder things as well like the voice tracking.”
With a plan put together, the two seniors worked throughout the summer scheduling music while working alongside NBA President/Executive Director Jim Timm. Nevertheless, it was an experience that neither will forget.
“It was a great experience,” Delaney said. “Working for Jim Timm this summer allowed us to learn more about radio and experiment more. While we had some adult guidance, it was entirely controlled and run by us which allowed us to test some new things out.
With the free ability to implement new forms and types of media, whether it be the music genre or a weekly update, President/Executive Director of the NBA Jim Timm was pleasantly surprised and pleased with the work and effort both Delaney and Moseley put forth.
“They have both done an outstanding job,” NBA President Jim Timm said. “They quickly grasped how the various software elements work, which allowed them to have some fun with it over the summer and to discuss ideas to enhance “The Uproar” when school resumed for the fall semester. As Mr. Hilburn’s students engaged with the HSRP throughout the spring semester, it became evident that Nathan and Logan shared a greater interest in the program and how a local radio station functions. Seeing how much fun they were having, I asked Mr. Hilburn for approval to work with them over the summer to keep the music and other content fresh even while on summer break.”
Alongside the challenges came recognition as the two seniors were featured at the annual Nebraska Broadcasters Association convention where they met and made connections with multiple professionals in the journalism field. You can tune into the HSRP at https://www.highschoolradioproject.org/
