It has been a turbulent time lately in the WAVM Audio/Visual Club. The longtime supervisor of the organization, Mark Minasian,  who dedicated countless hours over his  20 years at the station, has now retired from his position, leaving many of us WAVM members questioning what the future may hold. However, there is still hope! Recently appointed to replace Mr. Minasian is Steve Valenti. Mr. Valenti, who previously worked for Channel 5 news, and has a lot of experience with television, is ready to bring positive change to the club and the station for the rest of this year, and hopefully for years to come. 

As the year comes to a close, and radio shows come to an end for this school year in the coming month, there are still many events that need to be run, ones which will be very difficult without the help of Mr. Minasian. Such as setting up and running graduation out on the alumni field, and running the town of Maynard’s annual town meeting on the 15th in the high school gym. 

With the introduction of a $200,000 grant given to the station and the in-school chapter 74 radio and television program, it can be expected that there will be much more new equipment that will be appearing in the station, which will not only replace old equipment but will be able to bring new opportunities to students and members of the WAVM community. This will include new cameras, new tripods, cables, and even possibly new computers. WAVM has still only scratched the surface of the possibilities that this grant has given us.

It can also be made known that next year students can expect WAVM to bring the local community the first full, 40-hour-long Beacon Santa Telethon for the past 4 years. For this to be possible WAVM will need to employ the help of as many students as possible to put on this huge event! If made possible, the 2023 telethon may be able to top last year’s total of $31,000 and support many more families in need during the holiday season. 

The exit of Mr. Minasian and the introduction of Mr. Valenti is the beginning of a new and exciting era for WAVM. And the $200,000 grant that the state has given to the Chapter 74 program and the station will be able to make us function as an audio/visual club and organization like we never have before, and will be able to help us run events such as the 2023 telethon and so much more. There will undoubtedly be unexpected twists and turns, but the radio and television station of WAVM has an exciting few years ahead of it.