Knoch High School students will have a new resource available to them others normally don’t: a radio station.

Knoch’s school board approved the district acquisition of WIYQ-DB, also known as Saxonburgradio.com, at its Wednesday, May 14, meeting.

The station, found on 1620 AM and 100.3 FM, is being donated to the school district by its founder, Ken Hawk, according to a district news release. Hawk is retiring after almost four decades in the broadcasting industry.

“I want to see local radio continue in Saxonburg,” Hawk said in the news release. “Local radio is still a growing concern in small communities and Saxonburg has proven it can support a station of this size. Moreover, the access these kids have to technology education can really help the business grow.”

Hawk is donating about $8,000 worth of studio and transmitter equipment, which will be set up in a completed space within the newly renovated high school

The radio station features a variety of music, such as adult contemporary music during daytime, smooth jazz during late night hours, classic hits on the weekends, and local and regional musicians during weekday programming. The release said the station also features farming and agricultural vignettes, state and national political programming on Sundays, and other world and national news, with news headlines from the Butler Eagle.

“It’s everything you’d expect to hear on a small-town, local radio station. The only thing we don’t do but should is local sports. We just don’t have the manpower,” Hawk said in the news release.

School radio stations are more common on college campuses, but Hawk said they can occasionally be found at high schools too.

Knoch School District said it is thrilled to receive the donation and have the station available for student use. The district also said the radio station will provide a forum for Knoch students to share their talents with the community.

“The timing was perfect as our current construction project provided an ideal space to house the new equipment,” the district said. “Some of our staff have already begun brainstorming ways to integrate the station into their curriculum. This addition will create meaningful learning experiences for our students for years to come.”

According to Hawk and the district, Part 15 of FCC rules does not require low-powered devices like the station’s transmitter to have a license to operate on its frequencies. Hawk said Saxonburg’s natural elevation allows the station’s signal to provide decent air coverage.