End of the Year Recap 2008/2009
Fundraising continues to be a major emphasis for WSDP. We continue to build relationships with alums and listeners of the station. Special events were planned like our fundraising concerts. In addition we hosted the first WSDP Record Show and continued major fundraisers like the WSDP Auction and Pledge Drive.
In the midst of all the emphasis on raising funds we continued our work in training students in broadcasting and offering unique programming. Through the students hard work WSDP was recognized with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation High School Station of the Year. This was the fifth time in the past nine years that WSDP received the honor. Many of our students received individual awards from the MABF and the Michigan Association of Educational Broadcasters.
We continued planning for the Fundamentals of Radio Broadcasting Class that will be offered in the Fall of 2009. The class was originally going to be offered this past school year but was held off for one year. It will be co-taught by Station Manager Bill Keith and Salem English Teacher Lauren Cummings. We’re excited offering a radio class again, because of the long history of excellent radio instruction at the school district.
We also received a major donation from Lansing Community College and their student radio station WLNZ. They upgraded their studio consoles and donated three older consoles to WSDP. One was installed in Studio A in December 2008. An additional console was added to our production studio. These consoles were an upgrade over our previous equipment and we thanks WLNZ, their Station Manager Dave Downing and Lansing Community College for the donation.
The support of WSDP’s Alums continues to be a major source of encouragement and much needed funds for the station. We received over $10,000 from alumni in the 2008/2009 school year. $8,000 of that came from three alums and an addition $1,000 came through a matching grant from one of their employers.
We added a new fundraiser for the station. Our first WSDP Record and Memorabilia Show was held on Feb. 21, from 10am to 4pm in the Salem Cafeteria. Music fans were not stopped by a snow storm that came through the area that day. Fortunately it came just after the dealers arrived and the doors were opened. We had about 15 dealers and 30+ tables. The show raised over $1,000 for the station and we were able to put on a very successful event. We were able to borrow the idea from WHFR at Henry Ford Community College. They held a successful show the previous summer and we aren’t opposed to steal a good idea.
We tried to build on our successful fundraising concert from the previous school year with two concerts. The first concert was held March 28, in the Salem Auditorium and featured Telarc Recording Artist Keri Noble along with The Mean Reds and Rachele Eve. Over 220 people attended. Although we didn’t raise any money we were able to break even while enjoying a great evening of music. We ended the year with a concert featuring My Dear Disco, Robots in the Garden, TwentyforSeven, PK Fire, and the Dry Leaf Project. The show was held in the Salem Cafeteria on May 29 with 150-200 in attendance.
Both the WSDP Pledge Drive and Auction were able to raise more funds than the year prior. The pledge drive helped us raise over $1,500 from listeners and alums. We were able to raise over $9,000 from the auction.
Two of our students were invited by the Detroit Tigers and the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association to broadcast the high school all star game from Comerica Park. This was an amazing opportunity for Nick Stemberger and Brandon Karsten since they were able to broadcast from the press box. We joined a broadcast team from Novi High School for the game. To top it off the students had a chance to interview players on the field.
WSDP also remained committed to spotlighting diverse musical genres. Past shows like Encore (Classic Rock), Peanut Butter Jamz (Teen Pop), and Extra Pulp (Morning Music and Talk) were joined by our newest show, Revival (Post Punk).
We wrapped up the year with the WSDP Banquet on Wed. May 27, at Fox Hills Golf and Country Club. The student award winners are listed below. We were also fortunate to have J. Mikel Ellcessor as our guest speaker. Mikel is the General Manager of WDET, Detroit Public Radio. He talked to the students about the importance of creating programming that is focused on the community and the significance of their opportunities at WSDP,
Though this covers much of what we did this past year it only scratches at the surface of WSDP’s accomplishments. Our graduating seniors (Jake Burnstein, John Dalton, Maggie DePentu, Brandon Karsten, Johanna Muller, Ariel Rojo, Jenny Rokakis, Nick Stemberger and Timothy Thompson) will be missed and have left big shoes to fill.
Scholarship Recipients
John Seidelman Scholarship – Jennie Rokakis (Canton)
Jeffrey L. Cardinal Scholarship – Timothy Thompson (Salem)
Bonny Dore/WSDP Founder Scholarship – Nick Stemberger (Plymouth)
Staff Awards
| Most Improved DJ | Alex Rogowski (Plymouth) | |
| Best DJ | Derek Harbison (Plymouth) | |
| Best DJ | John Bonello(Salem) | |
| Best News | Rodney Harris (Canton) | |
| Best News | John Dalton (Salem) | |
| Best Sports | Nick Stemberger (Plymouth) | |
| Best Production | Derek Harbison (Plymouth) | |
| Best Newcomer | Alex Rogowski (Plymouth) | |
| Most Valuable Person | Timothy Thompson (Salem) |
Directors Awards
| Music | John Bonello (Salem) | |
| News | Sean Fitzpatrick (Canton) | |
| Mary Hourani (Salem) | ||
| Production | Jennie Rokakis (Canton) | |
| John Bommarito | ||
| Sports | Brandon Karsten (Plymouth | |
| Jake Burnstein (Salem) | ||
| Promotions | Paige Heaven (Salem) | |
| Hannah Glodich (Salem) |
Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation Awards
| Rodney Harris (Canton) | Honorable Mention / Daily Sportscast/Newscast | |
| Sean Fitzpatrick (Canton Sophomore) | Honorable Mention / Daily Sportscast/Newscast First Place / Promotional Announcement Second Place / PSA |
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| Derek Harbison (Plymouth Sophomore) | First Place / Promotional Announcement Honorable Mention / Talk Show Honorable Mention / Promotional Announcement |
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| Nick Stemberger (Plymouth Senior) | Second Place / Sports Play-By-Play | |
| John Dalton (Salem Senior) | Honorable Mention / Daily Sportscast/Newscast Second Place / Talk Show |
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| Kurtis Roy (Salem Junior) | First Place / Promotional Announcement | |
| Jake Burnstein (Salem Senior) | Second Place / Promotional Announcement | |
| Sam Rector (Salem Senior) | Second Place / Promotional Announcement | |
| Alex Lamb (Salem Junior) | Honorable Mention / Promotional Announcement | |
| Timothy Thompson (Salem Senior) | Second Place / Station Activities Report |
Michigan Association of Educational Broadcasters Awards
Newscast
Rodney Harris (Canton Junior) – Gold
Talk Show
John Dalton (Salem Senior) – Gold
Sean Fitzpatrick (Canton Sophomore) – Gold
Timothy Thompson (Salem Senior) – Gold
Rodney Harris (Canton Junior) – Gold
Production
Sean Fitzpatrick (Canton Sophomore) – Gold
John Bonello (Salem Sophomore) – Gold
Derek Harbison (Plymouth Sophomore) and Alex Lamb (Salem Junior) – Bronze
Jake Burnstein (Salem Senior) and Sam Rector (Salem Junior) – Bronze
Sportscast/Play-by-Play
Nick Stemberger (Plymouth Senior) – Silver
Disc Jockey
John Dalton (Salem Senior) and Spencer Girard (Plymouth Sophomore) – Bronze
2008/2009 Directors
Program – Timothy Thompson (Salem)
Music – Maggie DePentu (Canton)
Asst. Music – John Bonello (Salem)
News – Timothy Thompson (Salem)
Asst. News – Rodney Harris (Canton)
Sports – Ariel Rojo (Salem), Nick Stemberger (Plymouth)
Promotions – Ariel Rojo (Salem), Alexandra Lamb (Salem)
Production – Derek Harbison (Plymouth)
Web – Rodney Harris (Plymouth)
Staff List
McKayla Beam
John Bonello
Jake Burnstein
Maribeth Conner
Chris Cook
John Dalton
Maggie DePentu
Christina Edgerton
Sean Fitzpatrick
Spencer Girard
Hannah Glodich
Derek Harbison
Rodney Harris
Paige Heaven
Mary Hourani
Natalie Jordan
Brandon Karsten
Allison Korte
Alex Lamb
Rob Lee
Kyle Linford
Gabe Martino
Katherine Mercieca
Andy Milad
Johanna Muller
Sam Rector
Alex Rogowski
Ariel Rojo
Jennie Rokakis
Kurtis Roy
Nick Stemberger
Timothy Thompson
