Ridgewood High School’s television and radio studio has produced its share of alumni, including Joe Bartosch, whose voice many Chicago sports fans have heard on talk radio and Bears broadcasts.
Now, however, the aging studio’s future is uncertain.
Host to an audio/video club and an occasional journalism or mass media class, though not currently home to official A/V classes — the studio’s decade-old software and non-high definition equipment would cost an estimated $140,000 to replace, officials said.
But students can learn how to shoot and edit video (if they don’t already know) on myriad iPad and iPhone apps, and the studio’s space is being eyed by school administrators for other programs or uses.
“I get that the board likes it, but academically we don’t use or need it,” Superintendent Jennifer Kelsall said at Ridgewood District 234 School Board’s April 20 meeting. “It’s a sacred cow.”
A better use of the studio space, which lies in the one part of Ridgewood’s building untouched by a recent $68 million renovation, would be a “student learning space” or “innovation center” where students could get one-on-one tech help like at an Apple Store’s Genius Bar, or have access to more resources and network with their peers, she added.
Journalism and mass media classes exist as electives in the English department, which are offered on alternating years, and use the studio space, but irregularly at best, Kelsall said. About 20 students must indicate interest for one of those electives to be offered; in some years there is enough interest, in others there isn’t, but interest is trending down over time, she added.
District 234 School Board members indicated reluctance in April to officially drop the studio, asking whether it could be used in a social media context or something else.
“I hate to give it up,” especially if we just haven’t found a good use for it yet, Maria Smith said.
If Ridgewood had a trained audio/video teacher and an updated facility, then the studio “could be a valuable commodity for the kids,” Board President Michael Glaub said.
Earlier this month, Glaub said all board members recognize that if they choose to keep the studio as an asset, it has to be upgraded and modernized.
“To make that investment worthwhile, it’s got to be [for] a class, in addition to the club,” he said after the board’s May 4 meeting.
Tim Keeley, assistant superintendent for finance and operations, said he is waiting for more direction from the School Board before trying to work up any official cost estimate for modernizing or renovating the studio.
Bartosch, who graduated from Ridgewood in 1978, said the A/V studio “literally changed my life … that started my whole radio thing.
“Any time I had a spare moment I was down at the radio station,” he said.
Perhaps Ridgewood could partner with a local production company to keep the studio alive for students who show interest in broadcasting technology and careers, he added.
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“I understand, as a taxpayer, that you want to get some kind of value out of it,” Bartosch said. “You really need to have enough students who are passionate enough about it to make it worthwhile. That’s the key.”
Kelsall said discussion of the studio’s fate will continue through the high school’s summer break.
Jon Davis is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.