Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

The students of St. John's College, Nugegoda try their hand at broadcasting
On the sound waves
By Ishani Ranasinghe
Their radio jingles are catchy and they are brimming with enthusiasm. From the looks of it, their radio station - 'Dasuna FM' is set to become a hit.

All set for action. Pix J. Weerasekera

St. John's College, Nugegoda has a 70-year-history while the school's Broadcasting Unit has been in existence for 20 years. To mark this milestone, they will go on air for a week, becoming the first school to broadcast from the Piliyandala Educational Zone.

Ms. Shamila Gunawansa, teacher in charge feels this project will help bring out the students' talents. Past students of the school who became announcers came in to train the students. "They were taught how to work on a programme, read news, edit news and how to handle a show," she said.

"The time was right for us to launch our radio station," says Ridee Nuwan, the project coordinator. "In the past we tried to go on air but were never successful," he says adding that this year they were determined to succeed. "We are a small school so the amount of help we get is limited."

Ridee Nuwan

"We never knew where to go or what exactly needed to be done," said Buddhika Sampath, the president of the BU. "Apart from some initial training we had to listen to the radio and train ourselves."

The lack of help did not deter them, instead made them more determined. They put out a newspaper within the school to make students aware of the station and encourage them to lend a hand.

Printing stickers to raise funds, they went around finding out what needed to be done to operate a radio station.

After preparing for almost six months, they are now ready to go on air. "We want to bring recognition to our school and also to the people who helped," said Ridee Nuwan.

"Our target audience will be those between the ages 12-25," says Buddhika adding that they have lined up a variety of programmes including request shows, news, a guide for students entering university and much more.

To request a song you could call or fax on 854875, SMS on 0722907314. If you want to know the exchange rates you could SMS them on 0722902096.

So tune in to "Dasuna FM" on 96.1 FM from August 18 -24 from 5.00 a.m. - 12.00 p.m. and hear some radio stars in the making.

Back to Mirror Magazine