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