Tune into Hinsdale Central’s WHSD radio station

Delaney Kemp

Radio Club members curate their own playlists to play on their shows.

Monday through Friday 3-9 p.m. of each week, anyone in the Hinsdale Central area can tune into station 88.5 FM or go to the NFHS network under Hinsdale Central High School to listen to students of Hinsdale Central hosting their own radio shows. These shows feature non-explicit music and discussion amongst the hosts. 

The club has been around for well more than 35 years and is currently sponsored by Robert Russo and Alex Hipskind. 

“Our roles as sponsors are to organize the radio shows and instruct the students on how to use the technology in the studio so that their weekly shows go out over the radio waves and also are streamed over the NFHS network,” Russo said. 

The Radio Club hosts tryouts at the beginning of each semester where students pitch their show’s concept. However, there are also year-round positions which do not require any sort of audition process. 

The walls of the radio room are decorated with posters along the wall. (Amanda McLaughlin)

“I’ve always loved music as I am a working musician on the weekends, so naturally I love the idea that music means so much to everyone,” Russo said.

The club meets as a group between one to two times a week to be on base with one another, but the shows function on weekly rotations. There are three slots a day Monday-Friday, each accommodating 1-4 hosts. 

“There’s a lot of individual liberty within the radio club,” said Mallory Giacchetti, junior. 

Students may choose to discuss subjects such as sports, politics, or pop-culture. Others focus primarily on the music and curating their own clean playlists for on-air. Many opt for a combination of the two. Giacchetti said that she and her best friend run a show called “Chortling Chicks every Tuesday from 3-5 p.m. 

“We create themes for the songs we are going to play for the day, then whenever we don’t play music we just sit and talk,” Giacchetti said

Delaney Kemp was influenced by a friend to join the club in her junior year and has since created her own show and really enjoyed her involvement in the club. 

“We often end up doing longer talking segments, just chatting about whatever has been going on in our lives, and then we’ll take a break to play some music,” said Kemp, senior. 

The Broadcast club has been around for quite a while. The radio station even has their own Wikipedia page.