End of the Year Recap

2008/2009

Fundraising continues to be a major emphasis for WSDP.  We continue to build relationships with alums and listeners of the station.  Special events were planned like our fundraising concerts.  In addition we hosted the first WSDP Record Show and continued major fundraisers like the WSDP Auction and Pledge Drive.

 

In the midst of all the emphasis on raising funds we continued our work in training students in broadcasting and offering unique programming.  Through the students hard work WSDP was recognized with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation High School Station of the Year.  This was the fifth time in the past nine years that WSDP received the honor.  Many of our students received individual awards from the MABF and the Michigan Association of Educational Broadcasters.

We continued planning for the Fundamentals of Radio Broadcasting Class that will be offered in the Fall of 2009.  The class was originally going to be offered this past school year but was held off for one year.  It will be co-taught by Station Manager Bill Keith and Salem English Teacher Lauren Cummings.  We’re excited offering a radio class again, because of the long history of excellent radio instruction at the school district.

 

We also received a major donation from Lansing Community College and their student radio station WLNZ.  They upgraded their studio consoles and donated three older consoles to WSDP.  One was installed in Studio A in December 2008.  An additional console was added to our production studio.  These consoles were an upgrade over our previous equipment and we thanks WLNZ, their Station Manager Dave Downing and Lansing Community College for the donation.

 

The support of WSDP’s Alums continues to be a major source of encouragement and much needed funds for the station.  We received over $10,000 from alumni in the 2008/2009 school year.  $8,000 of that came from three alums and an addition $1,000 came through a matching grant from one of their employers.

 

We added a new fundraiser for the station.  Our first WSDP Record and Memorabilia Show was held on Feb. 21, from 10am to 4pm in the Salem Cafeteria.  Music fans were not stopped by a snow storm that came through the area that day.  Fortunately it came just after the dealers arrived and the doors were opened.  We had about 15 dealers and 30+ tables.  The show raised over $1,000 for the station and we were able to put on a very successful event.  We were able to borrow the idea from WHFR at Henry Ford Community College.  They held a successful show the previous summer and we aren’t opposed to steal a good idea.

We tried to build on our successful fundraising concert from the previous school year with two concerts.  The first concert was held March 28, in the Salem Auditorium and featured Telarc Recording Artist Keri Noble along with The Mean Reds and Rachele Eve.  Over 220 people attended.  Although we didn’t raise any money we were able to break even while enjoying a great evening of music.  We ended the year with a concert featuring My Dear Disco, Robots in the Garden, TwentyforSeven, PK Fire, and the Dry Leaf Project.  The show was held in the Salem Cafeteria on May 29 with 150-200 in attendance.

Both the WSDP Pledge Drive and Auction were able to raise more funds than the year prior.  The pledge drive helped us raise over $1,500 from listeners and alums.  We were able to raise over $9,000 from the auction.  

Two of our students were invited by the Detroit Tigers and the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association to broadcast the high school all star game from Comerica Park.  This was an amazing opportunity for Nick Stemberger and Brandon Karsten since they were able to broadcast from the press box.  We joined a broadcast team from Novi High School for the game.  To top it off the students had a chance to interview players on the field. 

 

WSDP also remained committed to spotlighting diverse musical genres.  Past shows like Encore (Classic Rock), Peanut Butter Jamz (Teen Pop), and Extra Pulp (Morning Music and Talk) were joined by our newest show, Revival (Post Punk). 

We wrapped up the year with the WSDP Banquet on Wed. May 27, at Fox Hills Golf and Country Club.  The student award winners are listed below.  We were also fortunate to have J. Mikel Ellcessor as our guest speaker.  Mikel is the General Manager of WDET, Detroit Public Radio.  He talked to the students about the importance of creating programming that is focused on the community and the significance of their opportunities at WSDP,

Though this covers much of what we did this past year it only scratches at the surface of WSDP’s accomplishments.  Our graduating seniors (Jake Burnstein, John Dalton, Maggie DePentu, Brandon Karsten, Johanna Muller, Ariel Rojo, Jenny Rokakis, Nick Stemberger and Timothy Thompson) will be missed and have left big shoes to fill.

Scholarship Recipients

John Seidelman Scholarship                           Jennie Rokakis (Canton)

Jeffrey L. Cardinal Scholarship                      Timothy Thompson (Salem)

Bonny Dore/WSDP Founder Scholarship      Nick Stemberger (Plymouth)

 

Staff Awards

Most Improved DJ                              Alex Rogowski           (Plymouth)

Best DJ                                               Derek Harbison           (Plymouth)
Best DJ                                               John Bonello              (Salem)

Best News                                           Rodney Harris             (Canton)

Best News                                           John Dalton                 (Salem)

Best Sports                                          Nick Stemberger         (Plymouth)

Best Production                                  Derek Harbison           (Plymouth)

Best Newcomer                                  Alex Rogowski           (Plymouth)

Most Valuable Person                         Timothy Thompson     (Salem)

                                              

Directors Awards                             

 

Music                                                  John Bonello               (Salem)

News                                                   Sean Fitzpatrick          (Canton)
                                                            Mary Hourani              (Salem)

Production                                          Jennie Rokakis            (Canton)

                                                            John Bommarito

Sports                                                  Brandon Karsten         (Plymouth

                                                            Jake Burnstein             (Salem)

Promotions                                          Paige Heaven              (Salem)

                                                            Hannah Glodich          (Salem)

 

Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation Awards

Rodney Harris (Canton)                                 Honorable Mention / Daily Sportscast/Newscast

Sean Fitzpatrick (Canton Sophomore)            Honorable Mention / Daily 

                                                                         Sportscast/Newscast

                                                                        First Place / Promotional Announcement

                                                                        Second Place / PSA

Derek Harbison (Plymouth Sophomore)         First Place / Promotional Announcement                                                                               Honorable Mention / Talk Show

                                                                        Honorable Mention / Promotional 

                                                                        Announcement

Nick Stemberger (Plymouth Senior)               Second Place / Sports Play-By-Play

John Dalton (Salem Senior)                            Honorable Mention / Daily

                                                                        Sportscast/Newscast

                                                                        Second Place / Talk Show

Kurtis Roy (Salem Junior)                              First Place / Promotional Announcement

Jake Burnstein (Salem Senior)                        Second Place / Promotional Announcement

Sam Rector (Salem Senior)                             Second Place / Promotional Announcement

Alex Lamb (Salem Junior)                              Honorable Mention / Promotional

                                                                        Announcement

Timothy Thompson (Salem Senior)                Second Place / Station Activities Report

 

 

Michigan Association of Educational Broadcasters Awards

 

Newscast

Rodney Harris (Canton Junior)                                   Gold

Talk Show

John Dalton (Salem Senior)                                        Gold

Sean Fitzpatrick (Canton Sophomore)                        Gold

Timothy Thompson (Salem Senior)                            Gold

Rodney Harris (Canton Junior)                                   Gold

Production

Sean Fitzpatrick (Canton Sophomore)                        Gold

John Bonello (Salem Sophomore)                               Gold

Derek Harbison (Plymouth Sophomore) and

Alex Lamb (Salem Junior)                                          Bronze

Jake Burnstein (Salem Senior) and

Sam Rector (Salem Junior)                                         Bronze

 

Sportscast/Play-by-Play                     

Nick Stemberger (Plymouth Senior)                           Silver

 

Disc Jockey

John Dalton (Salem Senior) and

Spencer Girard (Plymouth Sophomore)                      Bronze

 

 

 

2008/2009 Directors

 

Program                                               Timothy Thompson     (Salem)

 

Music                                                  Maggie DePentu         (Canton)

Asst. Music                                         John Bonello               (Salem)

News                                                   Timothy Thompson     (Salem)

 

Asst. News                                          Rodney Harris             (Canton)

 

Sports                                                  Ariel Rojo                   (Salem)

 

                                                            Nick Stemberger         (Plymouth)

 

Promotions                                          Ariel Rojo                   (Salem)

 

Promotions                                          Alexandra Lamb         (Salem)

 

Production                                          Derek Harbison           (Plymouth)

 

Web                                                     Rodney Harris             (Plymouth)

 

 

Staff List
                                                                       

McKayla Beam                                             

John Bonello                                      
Jake Burnstein
Maribeth Conner                                

Chris Cook                 
John Dalton                

Maggie DePentu

Christina Edgerton     

Sean Fitzpatrick

Spencer Girard
Hannah Glodich                     

Derek Harbison          
Rodney Harris

Paige Heaven 
Mary Hourani 
Natalie Jordan
Brandon Karsten        

Allison Korte 
Alex Lamb     

Rob Lee

Kyle Linford

Gabe Martino

Katherine Mercieca

Andy Milad

Johanna Muller           

Sam Rector    

Alex Rogowski
Ariel Rojo      

Jennie Rokakis           

Kurtis Roy

Nick Stemberger        

Timothy Thompson