NAEB Newsletter (Mar 1945)

NA£B NEWS LETTER Page 6 March I, 1945 With the increase in broadcasting time, the staff was enlarged to include; MANAGER (FULL-TIME). A PROGRAM DIRECTOR IN CHARGE OF SCHEDULING ANO GENERAL PRODUCTION VFULL-TIME, A PROGRAM DIRECTOR IN CHARGE OF DRAMATIC BROADCASTS (haLF-TIMe), A PROGRAM DIRECTOR IN CHARGE OF THE SCHOOL OF THE Air (half-time), A PROGRAM DIRECTOR IN CHARGE OF SPORTS (oUARTER-TIME). In aodition, three Administrative Fellowships have been granted to grad¬ uate STUDENTS WHO SPEND HALF OF THEIR TIME AT WLB, WHILE THEY ARE WORKING FOR GRADUATE DEGREES, THESE STUDENTS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN FROM PERTINENT SPECIALIZED FIELDS SUCH AS MuSIC, Sp£ECH, AND ^OURNAL ISM , Programs; The programs broadcast from WLB can be classified in three BROAD CATEGORIES. ThERE ARE THOSE DESIGNED FOR AN EXPLICIT EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION, SUCH AS PROGRAMS FOR DIRECT CLASSROOM USE; THOSE OF GENERAL INTEREST, AND OTHERS WHICH ARE PLANNED AS ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMS WITH LESS SPECIFIC APPLICATION THAN THE SCHOOL-ROOM BROADCASTS. All of the broadcasting for classroom use has been done sy the School of the Air, which was begun in September, 1938. At that time programs were PLANNED TO SUPPLEMENT WORK IN HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES IN EnGLISH AND VOCA¬ TIONAL Guidance, junior high school Geography and History classes, grade school Current Events, andReaoing *n the primary grades, a survey by QUESTIONNAIRE, CQNOUCTEO THROUGHOUT THE STATE AFTER THE PROGRAMS HAD BEEN ON THE AIR A FEW WEEKS, SHOWED THAT MORE THAN 17,000 CLASSROOM LISTENERS WERE MAKING USE OF THESE PROGRAMS WEEKLY. The SECOND SEMESTER School of the Air was expanoed to include programs in German, French, and American History. Anot*c r questionnaire was circulated with the following results; The total number of classroom listeners each week as reported BY SUPERINTENDENTS and PRINCIPALS was 32,932,. 23,007 OF these pupils were in non-Twin City schools. The most popular programs in the School of the Air curriculum were old Tales and New From Many Lands (reading of children’s stories), which has 4,663 listeners, and Current Events (a weekly news program digested and revised for the 8-12 AGE VOCABULARY LEVEL) WHICH HAS 4,347 REGULAR LISTENERS. The LEAST USED OF ALL OF THE SCHOOL OF THE A|R BROADCASTS WERE THE GERMAN AND FRENCH PROGRAMS WHICH HAD A RECORDED 333 LISTENERS. (NOW 135,000 A WEEK IN SCHOOLS•) These programs were not meant as substitutes for subjects in the regular CURRICULUM, BUT WERE INTENDED AS SUPPLEMENTARY AND MOTIVATING MATERIAL© From THE START, THE SCHOOL OF THE A|r WAS CAREFULLY INTEGRATED WITH THE State Course of Study, and the programs were approved by the State Department of Education, and the Raoio Commutes of the Minnesota Education Association, In the second category of general interest is: The Bride’s Program, a series of broadcasts of use to prospective brides in planning their WEDDINGS, TRIPS, HOMES, AND FURNISHING, The LARGE DEPARTMENT STORES, the University department of Home Exonomics, and the various Twin City EXPERTS ON BUYING AND PLANNING APPEARED ON INFORMAL INTERVIEW FORUMS FOR THIS BROADCAST, ANOTHER TYPE OF PROGRAM WHICH IS PLANNED PRIMARILY FOR GENERAL INTEREST INCLUDES THE VARIOUS MUSICAL PROGRAMS, 80TH RECORDED AND “LIVE 11 , WHICH COMPRISE ALMOST 50^ OF THE STATION S BROADCASTS, There are two dramatic hours a week which are not designed to fill a PARTICULAR EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION, On THE LONGEST OF THESE, THE KLB Playhouse broadcast, most of the ©lays have been important and classical