Local radio waves have been spiced up with a new addition over the last few weeks. Reviving an old Nayland tradition, teacher John Valentine has handed over his own regular environmentally and socially conscious Fresh FM slot, Pale Blue Dot, to a small group of committed Nayland students.
The new programme is called Nayland on Air and is broadcast every second Tuesday between 6-7pm. Tuesday this week marked the show’s third episode which covers a wide variety of school-related content such as past and upcoming events, interviews and music.
Mr Valentine is passionate about our young people becoming the informed and aware decision-makers of the future. He says that radio fits into that “experiential learning process” because of the range of communication, technical and collaborative skills that are needed.
Two of the driving forces behind the show are presenter and Year 10 student Emma Barnes-Wetere and technician and Year 11 student Caleb Fitzgerald. Emma was attracted to the project from her interest in public speaking and a possible career path in media or journalism.
“It’s definitely been a big learning process, how different it is and how you have to prepare for what you’re going to say but I’ve enjoyed it,” she said.
Caleb had prior experience with radio from his time at Broadgreen Intermediate. When the chance came up to get involved at Nayland, he jumped at it.
“At the studio I run the sound desk and pretty much everything technical that makes the program tick. I do a bit of commentating but at the moment am just trying to focus on getting the show right,” he said.
Both students would like to see more students get involved so they can feature more live interviews and student-based content.
Media studies teacher Duncan McKinlay, also a part of the Nayland on Air team, agrees. He’d like to revisit something that Radio Nayland did successfully all those years ago in the form of an old-fashioned radio play, written and performed entirely by students.
“Nayland has a rich heritage in this genre. A few decades ago, when Nayland last had a radio station, they produced a radio play that was broadcast on National Radio,” he said.
As well as needing more students to join the team, Nayland on Air needs support in the form of sponsors. Each show costs $60 and sponsors can be sure of being mentioned on the airwaves.
For more information about sponsoring the show, please contact John Valentine on john.valentine@nayland.school.nz
To listen to past episodes, click here:
https://www.freshfm.net/Programmes/Programme-Details.aspx?PID=8cc7b259-73de-4231-b1b5-c4ac6201500e
By Sera King – Media & Publicity
