THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 29, 1995 TAG: 9509290037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 160 lines
NO QUESTION, Dennis McCurdy has the qualifications for his official job as broadcast instructor and program director at WFOS-FM in Chesapeake. He's spent 30 years in the classroom and has hands-on experience in commercial radio.
Except for pompons and maybe a megaphone, he's all set in his unofficial job, too - that of head cheerleader.
Gimme a W . . .
This past spring, WFOS, the first public-school FM station in Virginia, celebrated its 40th birthday.
Gimme an F . . .
In that time, it has built one of the finest classical music libraries of any station in Hampton Roads.
Gimme an O . . .
More than good music, WFOS covers national news via the Mutual Broadcasting System, city government, weather and high school sports.
Gimme an S . . .
Credit the students, who first proposed starting up a station and who keep it on the air every day, 365 days a year, from 6 a.m. to midnight.
Responsibility. It's something the contagiously chipper McCurdy stresses.
``One reason for WFOS' success,'' he said, ``is that whoever's run it since 1955 has run it as a serious station. There's nothing cutesy-wootsey about it. We teach that old-time religion: how to run the board, what you can say and what you can't say. We go through a lot of FCC law.
``What counts is that the student is legally responsible for the transmission and operation of the station. The one complaint I get is there's so much to know - and you can't forget it.''
No amount of training, though, can prepare a 14-year-old for that first time through a tongue-twisting playlist that takes in Debussy, Rachmaninov, Dvorak and Rimsky-Korsakov.
McCurdy's favorite story is the time Sir Edward Elgar's ``Enigma Variations'' was introduced as the ``Enema Variations.''
``That's the beauty of it for us veterans,'' he said. ``Expect the unexpected. I'm just afraid (a listener's) going to drive into a ditch while they're laughing.''
A welcome mat slung over the rail outside the WFOS studio reflects the esprit de corps: We're Glad You're Here.
``Here'' is four faded, portable classrooms tucked behind the Center for Science and Technology, out on that part of Cedar Road that has managed to dodge the developer's bulldozer.
Parked in front is the station's remote van, a 1983 ambulance converted by chief engineer and broadcast instructor Dave Desler. The two cats prowling the grounds help out, too. ``They catch the mice,'' McCurdy said.
One of the portables houses the studio; another, some 3,500 CDs and a computer terminal used to catalog them. The classroom takes up a third unit. McCurdy calls the fourth ``Hiroshima East,'' but for even the casual musicphile it's nirvana. In it are the old libraries of WFOG and WTAR/WLTY, and a collection of 45s and LPs dating back to the 1940s donated by the late Roger Clark, an announcer at the old WGH-FM.
It's a far cry from May 1955, when WFOS, then in the old Oscar F. Smith High School in South Norfolk, went on the air.
Two students asked the widow of Oscar Frommel Smith about starting a radio station. She liked the idea and gave them money for a 10-watt transmitter, other equipment and licensing fees. The call letters WOFS (to honor Smith) were already taken.
Ten watts isn't much by today's standards; 40 years ago, though, the FM band was considerably less crowded. Listeners in Portsmouth and Norfolk heard country and classical music, rock 'n' roll - Elvis visited the station in 1956 - and a show called ``Miss Billie's Storyland.''
WFOS moved to Cedar Road in 1978 and, thanks to a 1,500-watt transmitter, expanded its broadcast range. Several years later, the station began broadcasting live election returns. Swing music was added. When WGH folded in 1983, the format shifted more to classical music.
In 1990, WFOS moved its frequency to 88.7 to make room for Hampton Roads' second public radio affiliate. In exchange, the station received a 15,500-watt transmitter and other used equipment.
Today, the broadcasting program is open to Chesapeake students in the fall and, in the summer, to all public and private school students in South Hampton Roads. ``Ten years ago, we were lucky to get four or five students in the summer,'' McCurdy said. ``The last two years, we've had close to 60.''
Katharine Kerr had no intention of taking the broadcasting course. Neither did Doug Heimburger and Tina George, her fellow seniors at Great Bridge High School, or Jennifer Northern, a senior at Greenbrier Christian Academy.
``My parents are good friends of Dennis' and Dave's,'' said Kerr, 17. ``I kind of came in reluctantly, but by the end of the summer (1992), I was really cool with it.''
So cool that she hosts her own program, ``Katharine Kerr's Keyboard Klassiks,'' and contributes articles to WFOS' quarterly program guide. Her broadcasting career will end in high school. Kerr plans to study historical preservation at Mary Washington, but said her experience at the station has made her more confident about public speaking.
The others tell similar stories. Heimburger, 16, was interested in the school television program; his guidance counselor suggested WFOS.
Two years ago, he designed the software program that is used to catalog the station's CD library. ``It was my first opportunity to write a full-fledged computer program.'' This summer, Heimburger gave a presentation at M.I.T., where he's applied for early admission.
Northern, 17, found out about WFOS from her mother, who works at Chesapeake City Hall, where McCurdy delivers the program guides. Radio helped her beat a slight speech impediment. She wants to teach history. George, also 17, was just curious. She's since abandoned her plans to be a chef, and has talked to the Navy about broadcast engineering.
``Everybody seems to fall into radio by accident,'' McCurdy said. ``I'm a good example.''
A social studies teacher for 18 years in Norfolk, McCurdy, 54, was president of the education association when he approached WPMH about getting a program on the air. ``They told me I wouldn't last a year. I did it for four.''
He had the bug. McCurdy learned to work the board at WPMH and later hosted the ``Saturday Night Dance Party'' on WGH. He joined WFOS in 1983, taking over as program director the same year.
``Dave (Desler) and I get that fire in our bellies,'' he said. ``Radio is very discouraging these days. It doesn't pay much, stations are downsizing and you can be talented and still be fired. We tell our students not to even think about radio broadcasting without a college degree. Take English or business. That way, you can work into management. There's no real money in deejaying.
``I tell my fellow educators that this is not the typical classroom. The notes and lectures are over in two weeks. The beauty of this program is you can get practical experience before going to college and taking those gawdawful communication courses that don't teach you anything.''
While graduates of the program are working in radio locally and around the country, turning out future broadcasters is not how McCurdy measures his success.
``I'm not sure what contribution I make as an instructor,'' he said. ``But to watch students come in here shy and almost withdrawn, and see them develop their potential, that's exciting.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Elvis Presley visits the South Norfolk studios of WFOS-FM.
Jim Castellow, Raymond Jones and Bob Skinner were the on-air
announcers at the Oscar Smith High School radio studios.
Radio veteran and chief engineer Jack Garrison was instrumental in
the station's move to the Chesapeake Tech Center.
The studio was renovated when WFOS increased its power to 15,500
watts.
Color photos
STEVE EARLEY/Staff
Dennis McCurdy
Ian Oliver of Great Bridge Middle School South introduces a piece of
music on the air.
Photo
STEVE EARLEY/Staff
Jennifer Northern, of Greenbrier Christian Academy, with CDs for the
``Swing Club'' program.
KEYWORDS: RADIO STATIONS by CNB