For 30 years and counting, the broadcasting students of the New Castle Career Center have been rocking the airwaves on 90.7 FM WKPW. Serving as the second highest power high school radio station in Indiana, WKPW reaches around 38,000 people annually.

The WKPW studio is approximately 2100 sq. feet and has ten rooms. The rooms include an on-air studio, tech room, and a rack room. The studio layout is designed to be functional for the students and features highly advanced equipment.

“The equipment we have for our students can rival most commercial stations,” Mike York, Broadcasting Instructor, explained. “We keep everything updated and as nice as possible.”

The students take a tour each year in Indianapolis that includes a radio station, TV station, and a recording studio. Previous classes have had the opportunity to meet Bob and Tom and were even featured on the show. This field trip gives students a peek at what day to day operations of commercial facilities look like.

The Classic Hits Morning Show gives broadcasting students a chance to experience what it’s like to work together as a team, and some students go live on air. They aren’t given a script to follow but are more impromptu so their personalities can be heard. They report on local and national news, sports, fashion, and more. For students who don’t want to be on air, there are behind the scenes tasks that can be done such as production and voice-tracking.

Many graduates over the past 30 years have gone on to have successful careers in the industry. As a class they have won 29 Indiana Radio State Championships and voted Best School Radio twice. Kaleb Gillock, 2014 graduate, is now working as a Sports Director for a Minnesota TV news station. Cara Dennis, 2007 graduate, was named the 2017 ACM Small Market Personality of the Year for her radio personality work on 97.1, Hank FM.

“We play more music and are commercial free,” York continued. “Many call us the best-kept secret of Henry County.”

For more information on the broadcasting program, or the 17 other programs the New Castle Career Center has to offer, visit nccareercenter.org

With downtown New Castle in high gear to become an attractive area for people to visit, there was a question on how to make it more aesthetically appealing. Community partners revamped flowerpots, streetlamps, and sidewalks – but something was missing. New Castle Career Center Welding Instructor, Steven Vitatoe, had an idea, an idea that would involve his students and give visitors downtown a place to sit and relax.

After discussing with Carrie Barrett, Executive Director, New Castle Main Street, they finalized the bench design. It would mimic the “LOVE” sculptures that live in the Arts Park and Murphy Park. This sculpture design was created by Robert Indiana, an American artist associated with the pop art movement, who was born in New Castle.

“The benches really add to the Robert Indiana Arts and Culture District,” Barrett said. “They also bring whimsy and fun downtown.”

The welding program has completed five benches so far and has no plan of stopping production. What started out as a way to beautify downtown has transformed into a fundraising craze. The first fundraiser bench went to the New Castle Miracle League, a baseball league for children and adults with different abilities.

“We made a bench for a Miracle League fundraiser,” Vitatoe explained. “It ended up auctioning for $1,500. We are definitely planning on doing more fundraising benches in the future.”

Every bench is a complete custom fabrication. The welding students perform all of the work: from programming the CNC plasma, to cutting the letters, to welding it all together. The benches are a way for students to get hands on experience and make a difference in the community.

“It’s an amazing start to finish project,” Vitatoe noted. “The students get to see every aspect of the build from raw material to finished product.”

If interested in purchasing a bench from the Welding Program, prices start at $400 and vary based on size of bench. For the Welding Program contact information, visit nccareercenter.org