That house. That weird, somewhat dilapidated, creepy, ominous, looming structure overlooking Sewanhaka’s grass field. Why is it there? What is it used for? When was it built? Not many at Sewanhaka know the answers to these questions, yet students may constantly find themselves asking them whenever they pass by.
Luckily, though this building is shrouded in mystery, its history is not completely lost in time. We’ve gone out and done our best to investigate this building’s past and current use, sifting through ancient texts (yearbooks) and asking some long-time staff members what they know about the building. Some of what we’ve learned may just surprise you. Without further ado, let’s unveil this mystery once and for all.
When asked about the building, Mr. Koscinski, a long-time CTE teacher and Sewanhaka alumni told us that “At one point, the building used to house the radio club, and it had an operating radio station. There even used to be a 100 ft. radio antenna along the side.”
That’s right. Throughout the late 40s, 50s, and early 60s, Sewanhaka used to have a radio club, known as the “Radio Guild”.
The Radio Guild began in 1947, with the building being built roughly around the same period. Within the Totem of 47’, the club is described as being an “ambitious group” responsible for serving all school functions (most prominently sporting events). The call letters of the station were WSHS.
Later, this club devolved into possessing even more purposes. In the Totem of 55’, the radio station is mentioned as being licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. During this period, students performed on a professional level- and when we say professional, we really mean it. Students were on air four hours of each school day, and the Radio Guild wasn’t just used to report on school-related events. Students did talk-shows, played records, and did radio dramas. The Radio Guild was even covered by notable news outlets, including the New York Times and Mechanics Illustrated.
Some students were able to take the lessons and knowledge they acquired from this club to pursue full time careers. Most notably, veteran television anchor Dave Michaels first took the airwaves through Sewanhaka’s radio club. He accredits much of his interest in the field through the early training he received from the Radio Guild. Michaels unfortunately passed away in February of 2023, but his legacy will always be honored.
The radio club ended up dissipating some time in the 60s, and the equipment was given to C.W. Post College on Long Island (now known as LIU). Today, the call letters WSHS are being used by Sheboygan High School in Wisconsin.
Since then, the building has served some functions.
Mr. Reece was able to enlighten us with the following information: “Because the building isn’t currently being used for educational purposes, its sole use is as a storage… there were a few brief moments [when] we used it for bathrooms for football games, and for a short period, it also served our booster club or the Franklin Square soccer club as a place to sell water bottles and other goods.”
So, if you came here for a more simple answer: that mysterious shack is currently just a place for storage, but it has an intriguing past in which it served as a place for students’ voices to reach all corners of the nation.
