WLTL has won “best station in the nation” for the sixth year in a row and was able to claim five first place trophies at the annual John Drury High School Radio Awards on Nov. 7 at North Central College.

“[The award] means that we are doing the right things for the students at LT,” WLTL faculty advisor Chris Thomas said. “It validates that we are doing the right things to prepare the students for jobs in media or radio once they leave LT. It validates that we are on the right track.”

WLTL enters its best pieces to the 10 different categories that the John Drury awards offer and then waits for the nominations to be announced. This year, WLTL received 19 nominations from their 34 radio submissions.

As a spontaneous part of the John Drury awards, first place award winners were asked to give an impromptu speech about their radio station and their piece. Connor Hankins ‘16, won the John Drury award for “Best Sportscast” that he and Ben Gawthrop ‘15 produced.

“Giving the impromptu speech was a nerve-racking but great experience,” Hankins said. “I am so used to talking to listeners through a microphone on the radio, that giving a speech like that really made me step out of my comfort zone. Thankfully, my IPC skills from sophomore year paid off a bit.”

Aidan Hunt ‘16 and Mike Rundle ‘15 received a first place award for “Best Radio Drama – Original” for their comedy skits “Canadian Horror Story” and “That 40’s Show.” Not every high school is recording original sketch comedies and WLTL has benefited from this year after year, Thomas said.

“My goal from my freshman year was to win a Drury award,” Hunt said. “I accomplished that goal and I’m beyond thankful for all the people at WLTL who taught me the skills I needed in order to succeed here.”

Thomas credits the ability to receive so many nominations to the support from the community and for the longevity of the station that has been on-air since 1968.

“When the students started winning in 2002, the underclassmen wanted to learn from them and now the knowledge has been passed down over the past decade,” Thomas said.