‘Just the beginning’: U-46 radio station celebrates 75 years by focusing on the future

Most anniversaries are celebrated by looking back. Elgin Area School District U-46’s radio station is honoring its 75th year by focusing on the future.

WEPS-88.9 FM, the oldest continuously operating school district radio station in Illinois, has been revitalized with new daily programming that includes student-created content, an evening storytime to help parents put their kids to sleep and a new podcast available on Spotify.

The district is using the 75th anniversary as “a new beginning,” said Kristine Rogowski, U-46’s director of communications and community relations.

“This is the launching point for new programming and new initiatives and bigger and better clubs,” she said. “We really took the 75th anniversary to push us into the future with digital media and bringing more kids on board. This is really just the beginning.”

WEPS made history as the first FM radio station to transmit from the Fox River Valley when it signed on the air Jan. 13, 1950, from what was then Elgin High School.

The station, transmitter and antenna remain in the same building at 46 S. Gifford St., which is now home to DREAM Academy. The signal travels about 15 miles from downtown Elgin.

While traditional radio may seem outdated, the man in charge of running WEPS says the skills students learn may be more valuable than ever.

Alec Barlow, a senior communications specialist with the district and the station’s new chief operator, was a student in the radio club at South Elgin High School until he graduated in 2018.

“You learn really valuable skills in communications that you otherwise would not learn,” he said. “It’s a way for kids to really talk about what they want to talk about and be themselves.”

When he joined the district a couple of years ago after graduating college, the radio club had gone fallow, a victim of the pandemic. Barlow dedicated himself to bringing it back.

“This program helped me find my passion,” he said.

This year, more than a dozen kids are involved in active radio clubs at Larkin High School and Washington Elementary School.

The district will be starting a club at DREAM Academy and plans to reintroduce it at South Elgin High School. They’re also in talks to start one at Teft Middle School.

Each club has a “radio professional,” basically a club adviser with some audio processing background, to oversee it.

Oscar Chavez, a dual language teacher, is the adviser at Larkin. He had experience doing something similar while teaching high school in Mexico.

“I really like the idea that we can be connecting to the community and let people know about things with U-46 and Larkin High School,” he said.

Chavez recruited junior Diana Absalon to help bring her out of her shell.

“It has helped me a lot in my public speaking,” she said. “I was really insecure about it and didn’t like it, but this has made me more confident in myself. I think that’s the best part about this.”

Absalon, who will graduate a year early in May, interviews people around the school about their lives inside and outside of Larkin.

“What I love about this is we get to know the staff and teachers and all the people here more than just what their role is at Larkin,” she said.

Barlow said the radio clubs and student-produced content reinforce the district’s strategic plan to foster a sense of belonging and inclusion.

“Students really get out of their comfort zones and follow their passions,” he said. “They’re being creative, and they’re learning critical communication skills in a way that they otherwise would not.”

And it’s not just broadcasting. Students in the radio club find the content, write the programs and do back-end work. Those pieces are then featured in daily Radio Club blocks on the station.

While the district is working to involve more students, staff members also produce shows.

Spark, and its Spanish-language companion Chispa, air each weekday with U-46 news and interviews. The show also recently launched as a podcast on Spotify. The first episode featured an alumni feature with U-46 Superintendent Suzanne Johnson, an Elgin High School graduate, as well as updates to curriculum and district initiatives.

Another program, “Books, Blankets, and Bedtime,” promotes early learner literacy by having U-46 staff members read bedtime stories for kids.

WEPS airs Wisconsin Public Radio’s Music Network when U-46’s local programming is not being broadcast.

Barlow said the plan is to gradually involve students more in the podcast.

“Communication is so important in the modern world,” he said. “The skills they learn here are going to pay off for them no matter what they end up doing.”