BMU Senior's Feel for Radio

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Created on Wednesday, 11 February 2015 18:38

Written by Emma Kaplan

WELLS RIVER- The WYKR radio station has been working with Blue Mountain Senior Jon Gardner on his senior exit project. Although there have been students involved with the station before, Gardner has to work a little differently than most.

 Gardner is blind, and his radio spots are written in braille so that he is able to read along while speaking, but all it takes is a slip of his finger to lose his place. He is well practiced though, and more often then not puts on a good show. “He reads like a champ and half of the listeners actually would have no idea he is blind,” said his mentor at the station Teri Lazzara.

Lazzarra explained a school program that has allowed Gardner to be a part of the radio station this year.

"The senior exit project allows for a senior to pick a career to learn about and want to pursue in the future and learn everything from the salary to exactly what they will be doing, and they chose a mentor."

Since September, once a week Gardner is able to go on the air and report on the happenings at BMU keeping the community updated, but it is not without it's challenges.

"All of the radio spots are in braille. What I'm probably going to do is research and find people who can find scripts in braille to read on the radio" says Gardner.

He may be at a disadvantage in the station, but Gardner has been able to practice before he goes on the air, he enjoys his final product, stating, "Just the fact that I get to come in here and announce this and it's not just going to be people in the studio or school who hears it, it's going to be people in the public and it's nice that even they get to hear what I'm going and how I do it."

Jon Gardner's radio spot airs Monday through Friday every week, with the first spot beginning at 8:20AM and the last one starting at 4:20PM.

His spots can also be found on the radio stations website at www.wykr.com