A Danville, Illinois-based radio broadcasting company is moving forward with an initiative designed to connect Central Illinois students, teachers and parents for the balance of the school year.
The Louise Neuhoff Educational Access Project, named in honor of the company co-founder, will provide educators daily access to radio stations in communities served by Neuhoff Media.
The idea is to make available specific periods of time each day for public school teachers to present lessons, read books and review specific material on air. These programs will ensure educators are readily accessible to all students and their parents while under stay-at-home orders.
“We have the ability for teachers to talk directly to students each day regardless of technology,” says Neuhoff Communications President/CEO Beth Neuhoff. “We wanted to find some small way to help bridge the gap between teachers and primary students. We are simply providing local educational leadership the opportunity to use our most popular radio stations to connect with students and their parents.”
There has been an enthusiastic response from local superintendents who are now working on plans to take advantage of this opportunity. For example, in Danville, Dr. Alicia Geddis is planning a daily program of up to 30-minutes of teaching each day on WDNL-FM. In an extended segment called, “Radio Teaching Time”, a member of her faculty will be on-air presenting material daily. Teachers have submitted lesson plans for the segments, ranging from reading to music and even art classes. The program in Danville will air daily at 10am beginning on Monday (4/13).
In the other markets served by Neuhoff, local educators are developing innovative local audio content to focus on the educational needs of students in Kindergarten through Grade 4.
“It’s our hope that others in the industry see the unique opportunity we all have to help in ways never before thought possible. We turn the music down for a little bit each day to benefit the needs of students who might not have access to the technology others do. If parents who are now serving as teachers have a daily appointment for content designed to help their children, then radio is doing its job to super serve our local communities,” Neuhoff said. “Louise Neuhoff had a lifelong passion for education, reading and children. It’s in her name we are doing our small part to support this important mission.”
Neuhoff Communications owns and operates 23 radio stations in Illinois and Indiana.
