By Catherine Kempista
Simple ideas can make the greatest impact. Luckily for the students at Warner Elementary, their beloved technology teacher, Elijah Richardson, is an idea incubator.
“I’m always looking for out-of-the-box programs, wow programs,” says Richardson.
So, when he approached Kimberly Price, Warner’s principal, with an idea to create Delaware’s first elementary school streaming radio station, she knew it was going to be a hit.
“He is a man who wears many hats, so nothing is ever just short and to the point,” says Price. “There’s no straight line; he’s always branching off. He’s the I-95 of Warner, where you can get to a lot of places because his mind is everywhere, doing everything.”
Last spring, the Warner school community, along with Governor Meyer, Mayor Carney, and local elected officials, cut the ribbon on WTBR, Thunderbird Radio — making Warner home to the only program of its kind in Delaware. But beyond the kudos of being first at the elementary level, Richardson’s real motivations were to create an innovative and exciting opportunity to reach his students and help them achieve their academic and personal goals.
“We have to compete with the vibration of social media and technology and their phones,” says Richardson. “So, I’m always thinking of what I can do to collaborate with the school curriculum and make it more exciting for the students. I want all the students to be motivated to say, ‘Man, I can’t wait to go to Warner tomorrow. I can’t wait to be on the radio!’”
Bridging Skills
Located in Wilmington’s Triangle Neighborhood, Warner Elementary serves roughly 360 students in grades 3-5 from its North Wilmington and West Side feeder pattern. Designated as a Title I school, Warner serves a high-needs population with roughly 85 percent of its households living at or below the poverty line, according to Price.
“Some of our kids adult more in one day than we do in a week,” says Price. “So, our only expectation for our kids when they come in the building is to be a kid and have fun while you’re learning.”
As a former director of the Appoquinimink Boys & Girls Club, Richardson understands that the most successful programs are the ones that intersect learning and fun, which was central to his proposal for the radio station. He found station equipment suitable for an elementary school program through School Radio, a company specializing in radio technology for schools. From there, Richardson built a curriculum that integrated both concrete skills and self-improvement objectives. He knew participation in the radio program would help the students with their writing, reading, and public speaking skills because it was an additional opportunity to practice outside of a lesson plan.
“He wanted to add to our students’ ability to be able to speak and write and be able to own something that not every student at this level has the ability to do,” says Price, who greenlit the program right away.
The unique nature of the project, as well as Richardson’s goals for his students, made it the perfect fit for grant submission to the Wilmington Learning Collaborative (WLC), which was established in 2022 to improve student outcomes within City of Wilmington schools. Warner is one of nine schools served by WLC, which spans Brandywine, Red Clay, and Christina school districts.
WLC operates as a nonprofit and provides additional resources and support to the teachers, staff, students, and families of its member schools. Because it was established to provide a more personalized approach to the needs of each school and its individual community, WLC resources include everything from teacher training and educator coaching to afterschool programming and behavioral and emotional student support. It also funds special grant projects, like Warner’s radio station.
“For the past three years, the focus has been on implementing innovative initiatives that expand access to opportunities for our students, and the radio station is one of those examples because it is expanding access to communication skills,” says Carly Highsmith, WLC interim executive director and its director of educator pathways. “Warner is very focused on making sure the radio station also connects to literacy and writing and even math skills. We see that as an awesome way and a creative way to bridge the learning, both in the technology class and across the school in terms of student leadership.”
‘It’s a Big Thing’
The radio station was a hit with Richardson’s students even before the program started.
“At the end of last year before the launch, I rolled up the shade on my door, and the students would come by that window and say, ‘Mr. Richardson, is that a radio station? Is that the school’s? You mean we gonna be on the radio?’ That was it,” says Richardson.
With the soft launch in late April, his fifth graders knew they had limited time with the equipment before they headed off to middle school, and the then-fourth graders couldn’t wait to get started. Before the end of school last year, Richardson fielded requests from students to be a part of his corps of rookie announcers because they knew if they were part of his morning announcements team, they would have first shot at being on the radio.
“It’s important to me because I want my voice to be heard,” says fifth grader Makayla Boyer.
This year, 20 students were selected for the Richardson’s rookie team and rotate through a two-person schedule of highly coveted slots.
“If somebody doesn’t show up, somebody will take that place,” says fifth grader Mylei Bacon.
In the first month of school, Richardson’s rookie team started with delivering the morning announcements over the school intercom, practicing their reading and speaking skills. In time, the team will also assume the writing role, gathering content for daily announcements.
Once the radio platform is activated in October, the announcements will be streamed live over the WTBR channel and accessible online through Warner’s website. Broadcast plans include live student storytelling, student interviews, music performances, and the Principal’s Perch segment with Principal Price.
“It’s a big thing,” says fifth grader Alex McCamie, “We’re going to get the programming. It’s going to be everywhere.”
The radio station program will also be integrated with Richardson’s technology classes and the school’s multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) activities. According to the Delaware Department of Education, MTSS “addresses both the academic and nonacademic, including behavioral, social and emotional, needs of the whole child as a way to boost student performance.” In this capacity, WTBR will incentivize positive behaviors and give students a tool for self-expression.
The students’ excitement for the radio station and all its potential is palpable. But more importantly, they understand that this opportunity is bigger than just being on the radio.
“What inspired me to join the radio station is I go to tutoring, and I focus on my reading and math class because I struggle with that,” says Bacon. “I think coming in here and seeing different words and reading stuff will help me academically. So when I read difficult words [later in life], I can think about how I did it here, and it will help me in the future.”
Richardson’s ingenuity and innovative approach to teaching not only helps Warner stand out for creating creative opportunities for its students; it shows his students how much he cares about them.
“He’s not just the technology teacher,” says fifth grader Payton Marshall. “He brings joy to the room. He’s number one.”
Above: Warner Elementary 5th graders seated from left: Alex McCmaie, Mylei Bacon, Juliana Ramos, Makayla Boyer. Standing from left: Technology teacher Elijah Richardson, 5th grader Payton Marshall, Assistant Principal Priceson Princilus, Principal Kimberly G. Price at the main control center of their new live stream radio station.
A native Delawarean, Catherine Kempista has worked in various communication roles in state government, education, and nonprofits for 18 years. Her passion for writing led to her becoming a freelance writer more than a decade ago. She lives in Wilmington with her husband and three children, and when she’s not with them, you can find her running the track at Bellevue State Park.