WHSD Radio Central is up and running. Starting this week students will be able to tune into shows created by fellow students that will run for the rest of the semester. During homecoming week, Mr. Robert Russo and Mr. Alex Hipskind chose nearly 50 students to be a part of District 86’s own radio station.

Russo and Hipskind agree that the application process is a difficult one. “It’s tough because there’s usually about 20 shows available and it’s competitive,” Mr. Russo said. The tryout process consists of these things: reading a public service announcement, an example of what the kids’ show will be like, and ad-libbing a topic. “From those things, Mr. Hipskind and I, who are both co-sponsors, judge them on their entertainment, creativity, and ability to think on the fly,” Russo said.

The kids have a radio show for a semester, and then tryouts will reoccur at the beginning of next semester. “We want people to know they can try out again,” Russo said. “It’s tough because there’s only so much time we have because we share the station with Hinsdale South.”

The radio station will begin broadcasting the week of Oct. 3. Since Central shares the station with South, Central will be broadcasting Wednesday through Saturday, while South takes the beginning of the week.

“What we’re trying to do this year is put the shows online so they can stream,” Russo said. “That way, you can just click your computer and boom, the shows will be there.”

Students like Athar Qureshi, sophomore, are excited to start their new shows. “When my partner told me we made it, I felt such happiness; I felt like I had accomplished something,” Qureshi said.

Most shows will run for an hour and a half to two hours, depending on the topic of the show. For all interested in listening, tune into Wednesday through Saturday to 88.5 WHSD Central.