WJSV: 50 YEARS AND STILL ROCKIN'

The Morristown High School broadcasting program is an award-winning staple in the District since 1971. However, due to COVID-19 health and safety concerns, MHS students were not allowed to broadcast from the physical studios of the WJSV radio station this year. Broadcasting teacher and WJSV Radio Station Advisor, Lance Armstrong, approached the Morris Educational Foundation for a grant to purchase remote broadcasting equipment in November, and in January student DJs received the opportunity to broadcast and run all aspects of the radio station from their homes and anywhere they had an internet connection.

Excited to return WJSV 90.5 to the airwaves, students immediately got to work and were able to celebrate the station's 50^th anniversary in February with alumni DJ interviews and music from the first 50 years of WJSV. More than 20 alumni participated in interviews or shared an anniversary greeting and represented every decade of the station’s history including some from the very first year!

In the spring, DJs held a modified version of its annual Marathon, a highly-anticipated event where students stay at MHS and host radio shows overnight. With a desire to replicate the Marathon experience as best they can while COVID restrictions still in place, they pivoted and held the Marathon outdoors and in masks in front of MHS from 7:30am - 4:30pm on May 22. The event was a success, and students were grateful for the opportunity to broadcast with each other in small groups.

Despite a challenging year, broadcasting students learned on state-of-the-art equipment to advance their skillsets and techniques, which allowed them to expand the types of programming they could produce during the COVID-19 crisis and when they return to regular use of the studio facilities. Student DJs also continue to receive their Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadcast licenses to help them pursue a career in broadcasting, as many MHS alumni have done in the past.

WJSV will take a break for the summer, but come fall students will carry on this long broadcasting tradition and keep the students and the entire Morristown community and extend listening area connected to MHS through news and entertainment programming. Supporters nationwide can also listen online at https://wjsvfm.wixsite.com/wjsvfm.

Want to see more? Click the video below to view a tour of the current WSJV broadcasting studios as well as highlights from the 2021 Marathon event.