Highschool students’ guide to the Galaxy

By Joshua Maassen

Young and talented new voices were heard on Webster University’s radio station, The Galaxy, when it hosted the first-ever Radio Camp between July 27 through 29.

High school students from the St. Louis area visited the campus each day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to gain hands-on experience in a radio studio. The Galaxy’s media coordinator Jim Singer created the camp to prospective students who want to work in the field of broadcasting. Singer began planning the summer program at the start of his career at The Galaxy in 2006.

“I’ve watched this station sit empty for the three years I’ve been here in the summer and always felt that something could be done,” Singer said. “I thought of high school students that have an interest in broadcasting. Most of them don’t have any outlets available to them to get their hands on anything.”

The three-day program consisted of learning the basics of broadcasting in a classroom setting and then applying the techniques in The Galaxy studio. Each student was able to practice the role of radio disc jockey by introducing songs and providing a brief history or facts about the artists of their choice.

Alexia Majors, a senior at Nerinx Hall, chose to play “Man in the Mirror” as a tribute to the late Michael Jackson during her time on the air.

“There has been a lot of time spent learning about the equipment in the studio,” Majors said. “Even the time in the classroom is interactive.”

The 13 students who enrolled in the radio camp were from a range of high schools, including Kirdwood, Nerinx and the Parkway District. The three-day program cost $100 per student, which included an on-campus lunch each day, studio access and copies of their broadcast sessions. Some of time spent in the classroom was dedicated to writing short scripts and other preparations for later studio time.

Many of the students had some interest in pursuing the world of broadcasting, whether for sports or journalism for their college career. Singer constructed the whole program from both his broadcasting knowledge and his 38 years of experience working in the field.

The Office of Admissions agreed that the Galaxy needed to be used over the summer, and helped Singer organize the radio camp.

“It introduces students out there that are interested in broadcasting to find some really good knowledge as a testing ground to see if they want to take it any further,” Singer said. “Also it introduces students that are considering college to Webster University that we have a really good program.”

A long-time friend of Singer and veteran Jim Doyle visited the radio camp on the third day to teach and share his years of experience in the classroom. Doyle has worked in broadcasting in St. Louis and internationally in Tokyo, Japan. He said he taught the students how to present themselves with confidence and to have a distinct personality on the air.

Ryan Jecha, a freshman broadcast journalism major and a graduate from Christian High School, said the Radio Camp was the ideal summer program before starting his first year at Webster.

“They taught us a lot and were really real with us and gave me a lot of information that I would of never known until I started taking media classes here,” Jecha said. “It was nice to get a jump start on aesthetics and the business side of broadcasting.”

When the program concluded, Singer suggested the students contact him over the summer if they would like more time in The Galaxy studio to practice their broadcasting skills. Singer was extremely pleased and thankful that the students of the program made the camp successful for its first year.

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