Chesterton High School Radio Station WDSO-FM hosted its 29th Annual WDSO Awards Night on Tuesday evening, May 17 in the CHS Cafeteria at 7 p.m. Guests for the evening were Jim Goetz, CHS Principal and Kevin Zeck, CHS Assistant Principal.

Nominations for awards were made by the membership of WDSO except for special awards. Outstanding awards went to Jackie Santos (10), Most Outstanding Newscaster and Tyler Devitte (12), Most Outstanding DJ. A plaque in the shape of the state of Indiana was presented to Tyler Devitte (12) in recognition of 1st Place Award at the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters competition, similar to the plaque presented to CHS at the competition in Indianapolis in March.

Senior Awards plaques were presented to on-air qualified seniors Tyler Devitte, Steve Garcia, Ryan Gorman, Aly Larimore, Kris Lhotak and Jillian Seeley. In addition, Graduating Members of WDSO Award certificates were presented to seniors Bryant Anderson, Mary Kovach and Eli Muller.

Additional certificate awards were given to students for Nathan Babcock (9) and Kellie Gill (10), Best Morning Assistant; Patrick Menn (10), Most Outstanding New Student and Most Dedicated New Student; Ryan Gorman (12), Most Outstanding Veteran Student and Most Knowledgeable Veteran Student News awards were given to Hunter Huddleston (11), Most Promising New Newscaster and Best News Reporter [Advanced Broadcasting Class]; David Allan-Ortiz (11), Most Improved Newscaster; and Michael Clemens (10), Best Sports Reporter [Advanced Broadcasting Class]. Sports Awards went to Dallas Milligan (9) and Nathan Dickinson (9), Best On-Air Sportscaster and Nick Borzych (11), Most Improved Sportscaster and Most Prepared Sportscaster; Trevor Klaus (9), Most Promising New Sportscaster; and Patrick Menn (10), Most Sports Games Engineered.

All of the students who broadcast sports events for WDSO received a certificate for their participation. They included Seniors Tyler Devitte, Ryan Gorman, Kevin Potter, Jake Webb, Kris Lhotak and Michael Coslet; Juniors Nick Borzych, Justin Reed, Jon Vincent, Austin Roach, Andrew Tomlin; Sophomore Patrick Menn; Freshmen Dallas Milligan, Trevor Klaus, Nathan Dickinson, Alex Driskill, Andrew Caratini and Mark Childress.

Music Awards went to Jackie Santos (10), Best Afterschool Rock Show; Patrick Menn (10), Most Promising New DJ; Billy Atherton (10), Most Improved DJ; and Jake Deiotte (11), Best Music Interviewer and Most Prepared Music Show.

After school Music Show Awards went to Seniors Ryan Gorman, Jillian Seeley, Tyler Devitte, Aly Larimore and Kris Lhotak; Juniors Jake Deiotte, Austin Martinson and David Allan-Ortiz; and Sophomores Jackie Santos, Billy Atherton and Patrick Menn. Other Student Awards for participation in the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters (IASB) Competition Awards: Finalist in News Anchor category, Jackie Santos (10); Finalist in Air Personality category, Tyler Devitte (12); 1st Place in Radio Imaging, Tyler Devitte (12); 2nd Place in In-Depth category, Aly Larimore (12); Interviewer Award, David Allan-Ortiz (11) and Most Outstanding Production Work, Tyler Devitte (12).

Three WDSO members receiving the Checklist Completion Award were Seniors Tyler Devitte and Ryan Gorman and Junior Austin Martinson. The “Digitizer” Award went to Andy Petrovich who has been digitizing WDSO’s collection of CD’s. WDSO seniors collecting the most Radiothon pledges on-the-air were Kris Lhotak and Steve Garcia. The sophomore member of WDSO who collected the most money for Radiothon was Jackie Santos.

WDSO Service Awards are given to students who are on-air qualified or very close to it. The number of years in radio includes the semester enrolled in Radio I or Radio/Video class. Four years, seniors Tyler Devitte, Ryan Gorman and Steve Garcia. Three years, seniors Aly Larimore, Jillian Seeley and Mary Kovach; and junior Austin Martinson. Two years, senior Kris Lhotak; juniors David Allan-Ortiz and Jake Deiotte; and sophomores Jackie Santos and Billy Atherton. One year, Patrick Menn and Brandon Kouvakas.

Staff awards recipients each received a certificate for serving as director in the various departments. Program director, Tyler Devitte (12); music director, Ryan Gorman (12) and assistant music director, Jake Deiotte (11); news director, David Allan-Ortiz (11); training director, Austin Martinson (11); PSA director, Aly Larimore (12); and promotions co-directors, Billy Atherton (10) and Hunter Huddleston (11).

Staff Department Awards were Most Improved Department: Training – Austin Martinson (11), Director. Best Department: Music – Ryan Gorman (12), Director and Jake Deiotte (11), Assistant Director. Most Dedicated Staff Member: Billy Atherton (10). Appreciation Awards were presented to members of the school or community who have hosted special programs for WDSO, including Jim Goetz, CHS Principal; Jeff Van Drie, Kevin Zeck and Tim McGinty, CHS Assistant Principals who have hosted the CHS Weekly Report; Scott Truelove, Business & Information Technology Chairman; Brad Bumgardner, Interpreter at the Indiana Dunes State Park and Jean-Pierre Anderson, Interpreter at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, hosts of Naturally Speaking. Dr. Carol Dartz (Owner/Veterinarian), Dr. Russell Mejeur and Dr. Johanna Neil veterinarians, and Renee Bernardi, Office Manager, at Arbor View Animal Hospital, hosts of the monthly show Pet Talk; Chesterton Tribune for providing Echoes of the Past for WDSO’s Daily Almanac Show; Jane Walsh-Brown, WPL Assistant Director and Curator of the Westchester Township History Museum for hosting, Historically Speaking. Wendy Marciniak, Publicist for the Chesterton Art Center was also presented an Appreciation Award for hosting, Artful Conversations.

During the Awards Night, the new staff for the 2011-12 school year were announced. They include: program director, Austin Martinson (11); music co- directors, Jake Deiotte (11) and Jackie Santos (10); news director, Billy Atherton (10); training director, David Allan-Ortiz (11); sports director, Nick Borzych (11); promotions co-directors, Brandon Kouvakas (10) and Patrick Menn (10); and PSA director, Hunter Huddleston (11). Matthew Waters is the Station Manager/Faculty Advisor and Michele Stipanovich is the station’s Operations Manager.

Posted 5/18/2011