The thing you’ll notice in the broadcasting room after your eyes take in the neon WDSO sign on the back wall and the cozy glow of the on-air light is how enthusiastic everyone – from the teacher, to the alum who stopped in, to the 10 kids who have crammed themselves in for a shift that’s meant for three – is about their Chesterton High School radio station.
Friday afternoon WDSO, which stands for Duneland School Organization (Corporation was already taken by another station), launched its 34th radiothon. It’s a tradition and a medium that is alive and well in a world of TikTok and other platforms.
“You walk around the community and people are wearing WDSO shirts all the time,” said broadcasting teacher Matthew Waters, who’s been in the job his entire teaching career for the past 20 years.
“I think people value their community resources now. Now it’s like old hat,” he adds of the newest generation of media. “We’ve listened to Spotify our whole lives. Let’s see what else there is.”
At the broadcasting desk senior Braden Kennelly is live with his peers. “Are we going to say a number?” he asks into the microphone. “Fifty bucks!” sophomore Aubrey Leidolf shouts. “I meant the phone number,” Kennelly replies.
More and more of their classmates filter in to be part of the action, as does German teacher and CHS alum Justin Martinson who was on staff at WDSO all four years of high school.
“WDSO was easily like my home away from home,” he said. “We were all really tight friends. It was like a safe place to be in the school. We were offbeat kids for whatever reason.
“A lot of it was silly and not super professional, but we had fun. It’s a great outlet for teenagers.”
None of that appears to have changed. Waters sits back, the epitome of patience, and lets the current crop of DJs literally run the show.
“Phoenix’s parents donated $50. Thank you Phoenix’s parents. Woo hoo!” says junior Ella Tonelli. After a couple songs she jumps back on air. “Hello people! Who do we have joining us?”
“I’m here!” gushes sophomore Ria Kashyap.
“I’m going to play a song Braden was going to play on his day. I’m going to swipe it,” chimes in junior Claire Demmon.
Even though none of the kids in the room say they plan a career in broadcasting – “Just funsies!” Leidolf says – Waters maintains it’s great experience for them as two-thirds of all modern jobs involve some form of marketing these days. The school offers three broadcasting classes: Principals of Broadcasting, Audio/Visual Production, and Mass Media.
The school supplements the station’s budget, but with expenses that run around $1,500 per month to rent a broadcasting tower on U.S. 20 at a discount from Chicago NPR station WBEZ and pay their share of the electric bill for that, it’s not enough.
The station has a 15-mile range and reaches Chesterton, Valparaiso, Portage, Michigan City, and parts of Gary.
Waters’ family has been involved from before the beginning. His dad, Arch Waters, was in the Radio Club in 1974 when it played music in the halls after school. WDSO got its first tower in 1976, “so I’m destined,” Matthew Waters said.
By the end of the first hour the station had already gotten $455 in donations.
The radiothon continues all of next week with students live Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Donation pledges can be left on the answering machine outside of those hours and someone will call back. To donate, visit: https://duneland.revtrak.net/wdso-radiothon or call (219) 983-3777.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
