Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 10, 1990 TAG: 9005100697
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As part of a Junior Achievement project, 13 of Little's pupils took over the operation of radio station WFIR for one two-hour programming segment. They sold ads; they rented the station; they pocketed any profit.
During the 11:30-to-noon segment of programming, 13-year-old Chris Andreas and classmate Mosi Coleman were assigned to interview author Donalyn Powell on the subject of teen-age suicide.
"This is like an emergency interview," Andreas explained while awaiting his turn behind the microphone. Virginia Tech basketball star Bimbo Coles was supposed to be Andreas' in- terview subject, but those plans fell through.
Andreas and Coleman, with the help of their classmates, had prepared 40 questions to put to Coles. They were able to come up with 10 for Powell after finding out about the change of plans.
Andreas had a backup plan if things started going bad with the interview. "I'll let Mosi read some questions," he said with a big grin.
As his air time approached, Andreas said he was a little nervous but he was stoic. "It's too late to get out of it now," he said. "So whatever comes . . . is going to happen."
"I didn't think they were nervous until this morning when they got here and they knew it was really going to happen," Little said.
The pupils had been working on the radio project for 2 1/2 months, she said. WFIR's general manager, Terry Gibbons, had been to the school several times to talk with the pupils, and they had visited the station on three previous occasions to become familiar with its operations.
"It's kind of been a shot at the real world," Little said. The project coincided with an economics unit in her civics class, and the pupils learned how a business is run and what it takes to make a profit, the teacher said.
"I think it really helps them make the wheels turn, lets them know you have to work for what you get," she said.
Keri Faw, the program manager for Junior Achievement in Southwest Virginia, was watching the events at the station. The volunteer organization now has programs under way in schools in Radford, Montgomery County, Franklin County, Roanoke County, Roanoke and Salem.
"We hope to educate economically all of the students of Southwest Virginia, so we have better citizens. . . and they know better what to expect B3 B1 RADIO Radio when they enter the work world," Faw said.
Junior Achievement evaluates the effectiveness of its programs by having pupils complete a questionnaire before and after they participate, Faw said. In the surveys given before a program, it's surprising how many pupils don't know the name of their economic system, she said. "You'd be surprised at the number of students that put down `communist.' "
Junior Achievement has a program for high school students that allows them to run their own companies. The organization supplies classroom teachers with books, computer software and other materials for the high school program.
James Madison Principal Charles Kennedy called the project a "super experience" for his school's students. "What I've seen is an increase in their self-confidence and self-image," he said. "I think its very broadening for them."
The pupils, who attend Madison's magnet school for math, science and computers, have improved in their relationships with other pupils and in their performance since starting the Junior Achievement project, he said.
Gibbons, WFIR program director Bill Bratton and others on the WFIR staff helped prepare the pupils for Friday's duties at the station.
"They taught us how to talk and how to talk while on the air . . . how not to chop our words in half and not say curse words or foul language," said Michael Materne.
"I've learned that running a business is not easy," 14-year-old Lucretia Holland added.
At the conclusion of the project at noon Friday, WFIR treated the pupils to pizza at a nearby restaurant.
by CNB