Highlights

I would like to inform Members about the circumstances that have seen Benji McQuade more than capably present a weekly programme - at least during the school term - and create a "first" as far as "Community Radio", 5GTR-FM and the Education system in this South East Region. When the training programme for Benji was completed, we approached The Border Watch to consider the newsworthiness of the project and they were very keen and eager. However they wanted to investigate the programme even deeper and it seems that the project now lies dormant in some reporter's "In" Basket. But I believe it is important for you to know what we have achieved as a Community Radio Station.

Late in 2007 we were approached by Tenison College and, during October and November in that year, we spent a lot of time together trying to formulate a programme which would suit the needs of Tenison, Benji, and for which we could provide the resources. Basically, the SACE accreditation system changed so that students could complete a full-time community based project and receive an exemption in one their Year 11 subjects. Tenison needed to address the criteria Benji would need to demonstrate at the end of the programme. Benji has some certain special needs to be taken into account so we then sat down and developed a term by term programme which would suit Tenison's criteria, develop Benji's skills and work in with our own scheduling. After a bit of fine tuning, we were ready to go with the resumption of the 2008 School Year.

The programme we developed took a bit of a backwards approach to training Benji because it was felt that he could be better prepared for on-air work if he was already familiar with Production Techniques. But no stone was left unturned and initially, Benji was even involved in some of the more mundane administrative duties around the Station. In fact it was Benji who first started entering vinyl titles into our Music Data Base.

Benji has a very hectic schedule and, although this was a school related project, he was only able to come along for an hour each week AFTER school hours. So time management became another issue we needed to address with Benji. After 4 - 5 weeks we moved into Production and the basic skills were taught to Benji. To test him he had to script a Station ID - and record it - "Blue Lake to the Pines" and also produced a Programme ID and another Station Promo. He also contributed in the production of a Sponsorship Spot and so eventually Benji understands Samplitude, DRS2006, Logs etc.

Time to prepare him for on-air work. In effect this involved several weeks of Benji preparing a half hour programme, research artists, practising Weather Bulletins and then taking home a recording of his output for the day (after review with his instructor of course). I think we could have been considered a bit tough on him over this period but, if you listen to Benji now, you will agree that this guy has come through the programme with flying colours. Thanks go to Mahalia and Maddy for making some of their on-air time available for Benji and I think both those girls had jaws drop when they first heard Benji go to air live. So I think this project has been a milestone in our own development in our Community and I think it is something that we should all be aware of and take pride in!
The Smith