It’s a tranquil Wednesday in mid-November at Kent County High School on the eastern shore of Maryland. Thanksgiving and the holidays are still a couple weeks away and the rhythm of the school year is in full swing. But inside the school’s broadcasting wing, there’s a buzz in the air.
Two representatives from the Kent County Family YMCA are set to be interviewed on-air by students, as part of 90.5 WKHS(FM)’s twice annual pledge drive.
Station Manager Chris Singleton mentions several times during Radio World’s visit to the station that having community members come in and see what goes on is intentional. “We don’t go door to door,” he says.
Two students are being specially called for the interview. “They want Olivia and Danika,” Ken Collins, WKHS’ sponsorship manager, explains.
The seniors, Olivia Johnson and Danika McAdory, have handled interviews on-air before with aplomb. This spot lives up to their standards. “Without asking, I plugged their Facebook and web address, and they were so delighted,” Johnson says.
She is a third-generation WKHS student. Her grandmother aligned with Singleton’s time at the station in the early 1980s. Johnson’s enthusiasm is infectious. She’s embraced the program and anticipates attending Morgan State University next year to begin college, enrolling in their Broadcast Journalism program. She originally wanted to be a scientist but fell in love with the school’s radio program. “Above all, it’s the only class I can’t get in trouble for talking,” she explains.
While juniors prepare for the annual on-air Christmas parody, the station balances fun with professionalism. Senior Jonah Elburn manages the programming log during the pledge drive’s extended interviews. “I’ve got UB40 in after the underwriter and I did not drop anything in the hour,” he tells Singleton, who gives his nod of approval.
Elburn was anchoring the 8 a.m. hour during the station’s special coverage for the pledge drive. It marked his first day playing straight from one of the main studio’s two Audio-Technica record turntables. When the time came to spin “Heroes” from David Bowie, the vinyl kept skipping.
“If you need proof we’re playing straight off vinyl, here you go,” he said confidently on the air. A music lover at his core, Elburn has a record collection at home and enjoys everything from the Talking Heads to Deltron 3030. He sees broadcasting as a large part of his future, with an eye on pursuing communications at a Philadelphia college thanks to WKHS’ 32-year relationship with the University of Pennsylvania’s 88.5 WXPN(FM).
Senior Alayna Brown takes the reins during the 10 a.m. hour, skilfully interviewing the newly minted class of sophomores on-air. She’s been accepted to Belmont University in Nashville as part of its Audio Engineering program.
She wants to be involved in the live music and recording industry. “I came to WKHS as a junior and I was kind of shy,” she recalls. “But other classmates were really vocal and that brought out a different side of me.” She had the opportunity to run live sound at WKHS’ 50th anniversary TuneFest event in May and now is taking advantage of the station’s live sound setup from a Behringer X32. She’ll be running the board for the school jazz band next week.
“I’m grateful to have these opportunities, the way it’s preparing me for everything,” Brown says.
By now it’s time for the junior class to put their own spin on things. Aidan Maxey, described as the resident music guru, explains to the group that he’s going to close the segment by front-selling Lynyrd Skynyrd. Andrew Buckel and Peter Sine then describe on-air how they were able to navigate to the payment area on WKHS’ website in 28 seconds to donate. “The power of suggestion,” Singleton observes.
“This doesn’t even feel like I’m in school,” junior Trent Johnson says. “For me, it’s helped me so much with my speech and putting together thoughts on the fly.” He wants to become an actor.
The FM Broadcasting Program of study is one of nine Career Technology Education offerings at the school, along with vocations such as automotive, agriculture, carpentry and computer science. The enrollment at the school is 531, according to U.S. News and World Report; it’s the only high school in the county.
Of Maryland’s 24 counties, Singleton says Kent County ranks dead last in terms of budget. Yet, this is the state’s only high school with a radio station.
“We’ve had to seek community-based funding through businesses and direct donations,” he says. While nationwide there are around 200 licensed stations to high schools, only about half are student-operated, like WKHS.
Professional-grade facility
The facilities are impressive. Upon entering the front-office area, there are multiple production rooms and a secondary studio where a table leaf drops down; Singleton says the room could even support a small band. It’s typically used for newscasts, but in a pinch, the station can go live there, including when the station performed its annual War of the Worlds play in October.
The main studio, part of a complete renovation in 2018, is in the rear. The drywall took longer than anticipated to install that summer, so Singleton had to rewire everything in three weeks. The finished product features a desk with five Electro-Voice RE20 microphones mounted on suspension shocks, feeding into a Wheatstone IP-16 console.
When the school day is over, the broadcast schedule is populated by specialty shows hosted by community members. When they’re not on the air, programming from WXPN is delivered directly from a Comrex BRIC-Link. This partnership has been fruitful for WKHS, resulting in yearly field trips 90 minutes northward to WXPN’s studios and the World Café Live headquarters in Philadelphia. For WXPN, it’s a way to extend its coverage southwest. WKHS enjoys a formidable 17.5 kW ERP signal. Licensed as a Class B1 since its 1974 sign-on, it easily traverses across the Chesapeake Bay into Baltimore and is audible in a car as far northeast as Salem County, N.J.
Singleton installed a GatesAir Flexiva 7.5 kW FM transmitter in 2022. His next long-term project is replacing the station’s 198-foot tower, a 1973 original located a few hundred yards from the campus. An Optimod 5500 is used for audio processing.
“Fred Willard always tells me, don’t touch it, you sound great,” Singleton says. Engineer Willard, based in Washington, D.C., is a WKHS alum.
WKHS sports a 12,000-song library in its WideOrbit automation. Original station manager and present-day broadcast automation expert Jim Hammond sold it to Singleton while Hammond worked at WideOrbit. Genres ranging from bluegrass, jazz, Americana and popular music from the last 60 years are on its playlist. But the station is not just a jukebox. It uses MusicMaster for scheduling, and each hour is a blend, with student preferences involved.
“You can’t ignore the pop music of today, because a lot of our DJs are passionate about it,” Singleton says.
Career work
“I’ve spent a lot of years doing other things in broadcasting,” Singleton, 58, said, “but at the same time, this is always my side.”
He’s proof of what’s possible in the program. A 1984 graduate of the school, Singleton had been enrolled in its electronics program. The broadcast manager at the time, Keith Hill, recognized his skillset and worked out a deal to split his time between the two programs.
Singleton spent many years as a broadcast engineer in Washington, D.C., and on the Delmarva peninsula, as well as in jobs for Intraplex and Harris Corp. All the while, he had become the default engineering resource for WKHS, still living in his native Kent County.
His last commercial role was in sales for high-speed internet and cable. Seeking less travel, Singleton jumped at the opportunity to take on the manager role at WKHS when it opened in 2008. His experience led him to implement innovations like using an SCA carrier for monitoring the station’s live feed at remote broadcasts. WKHS broadcasts many school home football and basketball games.
It has not been without its challenges.
In 2009, Singleton recalls, district officials didn’t see the value in the radio program. “I went in with the thought, this is not going to die on my watch, but a lot of other educational stations have battled this, and when administrators have their minds made up, it’s tough,” he said.
What he didn’t expect was the outpouring of support on the Eastern Shore. “It was like a mosh pit,” Singleton described. “The community just kind of raised me up.”
Not only did WKHS stay on the air, it was able to raise enough money to replace its antenna with a new Shively 6810 six-bay.
Still, for a broadcast station at a high school or college, good relations with the administration are critical. “We had a great 11-year run with our last superintendent,” Singleton says, speaking of Karen Couch. The new superintendent, Mary Boswell-McComas, came to Kent County in July, and Singleton is optimistic. The station, he says, “is free promotion for the school, and it pays for itself.”
SBE’s CRO
Students enrolled in the broadcast track begin as sophomores, typically a class size of about 10. He guides them through eight units, including marketing concepts, broadcast copywriting and his personal favorite, sound and radio wave technology.
He takes an audio generator and an oscilloscope display to demonstrate an audio waveform and show the corresponding AM envelope on 2 MHz with an SDR. It’s the students’ first-time seeing anything like it. “I don’t think there is as much of a math and science foundation as there used to be,” he said, “and I think that’s why we’re having such a hard time finding ham operators and engineers.”
That’s where the Certified Radio Operator certification from the Society of Broadcast Engineers comes in.
“If we have at least an industry recognized credential, that’s a beautiful outcome from this program,” Singleton says. Students Brown and Elburn are CRO certified after taking the exam last spring, along with two other seniors who graduated in 2024. He expects the rest of the senior class to do so next semester.
Community ham station
Singleton’s experience at WKHS led to him originally getting his amateur radio license as KE3MC. He has been a member of the Kent County Amateur Radio Society for 30 years.
Hoping to help more students “catch the bug,” the station this year unveiled a full-fledged community ham station. Singleton sees this as a pathway for 911 emergency dispatch training.
On the Oct. 21 ARRL school club roundup day, the K3ARS Kent Amateur Radio Society call sign made contacts with 34 countries. Brown made a contact with a Russian station. “Now, Alayna, Jonah and Aidan are all interested in getting their ham tickets,” he says.
Connecting the Eastern Shore
A community flavor is evident on WKHS. Student-produced marine forecasts and a local sports minute, supported by underwriting, reflect its connection to the eastern shore. The station’s 50-year anniversary was marked by a unique decoration inspired by Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” the first song that played on WKHS when it launched.
Ken Collins, 73, the fund manager, is the only other paid employee part of the operation. He is former general manager of WCTR AM 1530 and FM 102.3 in the county seat of Chestertown. Semi-retired now, he works a part-time schedule and loves it. “It means so much more here,” Collins says.
The station runs a pledge drive around its anniversary in March. Separate underwriting support from local businesses is steady. “We have a core group, and while one or two might drop out per year, we usually pick up a couple of new businesses,” Collins says.
At 2:25 p.m., the bell rings, and Alayna Brown pots up the WXPN feed on the Wheatstone. The school day is over. Jonah Elburn takes home some records to play at home to evaluate for the early shift tomorrow. He’s not even taking the class in the fall semester. “I’m here just to be here,” he says as he heads out. “I care that much about this.”
Singleton takes pride in what has happened at WKHS since he became full-time. “I’m hearing feedback that when they start communications courses in college, the professor is starting a unit they’ve already covered,” he said. “That tells me we’re teaching the same way.”
The station website can be found here.
