There were new voices on the air down at Golden West Broadcasting on Monday as CFRY, Country 93 and Mix 96 were taken over by Portage Collegiate students.
It was the first PCI Channel 1 Takeover on the local airwaves as five students came down to see the magic of radio.
Grade 12 student Thomas Zatina has done play-by-play for the Trojans hockey team and was looking forward to experiencing a new side of media.
"There's a lot of different roles that people have," says Zatina. "Some people like behind the camera, some people like to be in front of the camera, and that is what I like to do. I do lots of interviews for the school."
Zatina hosts a podcast for the school which you can see more here. Shane Sobkowich is a teacher at the school and helps run this program. Starting next year, it will be offered as a year-long two-credit course, with many options available to accommodate students. Sobkowich wanted to team-up with the local radio stations to help educate the students on how media can work in the real world.
"This was something that has always been an end goal at the end of some of these school years," continues Sobkowich. "When we started doing the news, and started getting students wanting to be on camera, and to be on the air -- with COVID, obviously, that wasn't a reality until this year."
Sobokowich's daughter Heidi came down to the station to talk about her experience with the Winnipeg Jets, as she served as a host for TSN. Sobokowich thought it would be a great opportunity for the students. Zatina agrees, noting the experience will help him in the long run.
You can follow along with PCI Channel 1 by going to their Facebook page and YouTube channel here.
