For 88 hours straight, WLTL will collaborate with LTTV and live broadcast gimmicks, stunts, music and talk shows for the 32nd annual Rock-A-Thon, a fundraising event for WLTL and LTTV.

“It is the only fundraiser we do,” general manager Chris Thomas said. “The school is very supportive of providing what we need, but this [event] gives WLTL students exposure to more modern equipment.”

Rock-A-Thon will begin at 5 a.m. Feb. 15 and end at 9:06 p.m. Feb. 18, Paul Kraessig ‘20 said.

Around 125 students will participate in the broadcast, each having six hour shifts, Thomas said.

“My favorite part is watching the students take ownership of WLTL,” Thomas said. “They make it bigger and better for other students and really put the work into it.”

This year, the broadcast can be viewed via six platforms. WLTL has a radio station (88.1), a WLTL app, a website and an Amazon Alexa app, Thomas said. Additionally, the show can be watched on Radio FX, a national scale high school and college digital platform, and Twitch.

“More platforms help us spread our message to more people,” Thomas said. “I hope to get people to follow us all year.”

Beginning in 1997, the event originally made around $5000, Thomas said. In recent years, the event has raised a total of around $20,000.

Preparing for the event takes around two to three months, Thomas said. Those on the management team, such as Kraessig, take donations, work out advertising deals with local businesses and then create some of the advertisements that will play on air.

“A lot of times we will do stunts or challenges,” Kraessig said. “One year, if we got $200 in one hour, I said I would eat cake off someone’s leg.”